It’s been a long time since Orange City lost three games on the trot to start an Orange District Cricket Association season, certainly not in skipper Craig Rogan’s time anyway.
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That’s exactly the situation Rogan – affectionately known as Bull and in his first summer as skipper – and his Warriors find themselves in now though.
While it certainly isn’t panic stations for the greens just yet, Rogan conceded there is pressure mounting for the 2012-13 champions to open their account.
“Of course there’s pressure, but I think it’s coming more from ourselves than outside the group,” he said.
“We’ve always set high standards for ourselves as a team and this is probably uncharted territory for a lot of guys in our club, we’re used to being in those top two or three sides all the time.
“I don’t want to make excuses, things are still positive on the field, the results just haven’t come yet.
“Our bowling and fielding has been tight, we’ve just let ourselves down with the bat a bit.
“We need to show a bit more grit, a bit more resilience there and this round against Centrals is the perfect time to start.
“I’m confident we can grab our first win in this game, which would settle us a bit and get the ball rolling.”
Centrals are full of confidence leading into Saturday’s opening day having turned a first innings loss against Kinross into a remarkable outright victory in their last outing.
On the other hand Orange City is coming off a big loss against competition leaders CYMS, in which the Warriors were steamrolled for just 66.
“It wasn’t a great day for us, but it gave us a fair indication of where we need to improve,” Rogan said.
“Centrals have their tails up for sure, that was a huge effort from them against Kinross but we know what we’re capable of when we get it right.
“We just need to put ourselves in the position to do that, which comes down to attitude and application.”
Rogan said he’ll look to veterans of the side like Shaun Grenfell and Nathan Rosser to stand up, while he’s excited about the prospect of 16-year-old Joey Kay finding his feet in the top grade a bit more.
Orange City and Centrals clash from 1pm, at Country Club Oval.