Who doesn’t love an underdog?
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That’s exactly the status Orange’s under-16 side will take into its Mitchell Cricket Council decider against Bathurst this weekend, the black and golds’ traditional rival is the only side they haven’t beaten so far this summer.
The two sides met way back in round one in October and while the sheer size of Bathurst’s 133-run win is impossible to ignore, Orange has built steadily since then with four straight wins, the last of which was a massive 199-run, semi-final victory over Mudgee last Sunday.
“We will go in as underdogs but we’ll definitely be better than we were the first time around,” Orange co-coach Andy Litchfield, who mentors the side with Stu Middleton, said.
“Bathurst were just too good for us before Christmas but we’ve improved a lot since then.
“We will need a few things to go our way, but I don’t see any reason why we can’t (score an upset win).”
Bathurst will be without one of its round one heroes in Ben Mitchell too, a boost for Orange although it still has to travel to Morse Park 1.
“He’s obviously a quality cricketer and a really good bat but I was actually really impressed with his captaincy in that first game, he didn’t miss a trick,” Litchfield said.
“So they will miss him but I think we’ll still be coming up against a quality side.
“We’ve got a few younger guys who will go around again next year, and a few of them are the senior players we’ll look to this weekend.
“Guys like Lachie Coyte, Alex Brien and Will Luelf, who all play first grade for their clubs and Blakey Weymouth has played a bit now too.
“Hugh Middleton will be vital with the ball as well.”
Orange’s under 12s are also 100 overs from glory, they take on Mudgee in the grand final. Like the under-16 outfit, Mudgee is the only side the black and golds lost to this summer – by four wickets in round five.
But the Jo Hunter-coached Orange side still has plenty of reason for confidence. Despite the loss, Orange still pipped Mudgee on quotient to claim the minor title and then earned decider hosting rights with a comfortable semi-final victory over Lithgow.
Orange takes on the Blue Mountains in Sunday’s under-14 semi-final, that age group was pushed back a week due to last weekend’s State Challenge potentially impacting a number of teams.
The unbeaten Orange outfit heads into that game as red-hot favourites, it thumped the Blue Mountains by 10 wickets last time around. Sunday’s finals all kick-off at 10am.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
