Stand-in Orange skipper Daryl Kennewell was left lamenting a lack of runs – and a lack of value placed on wickets – after his side was trounced by the Blue Mountains in its opening President’s Cup fixture on Sunday.
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Playing at Country Club Oval, the Blue Baggers limped to 129 before the Cattle Dogs stormed home by six wickets, winning with 11 overs to spare.
“It’s pretty obvious isn’t it, we didn’t score enough runs,” Kennewell said, when asked what he thought was to blame for the loss.
“I don’t think any of us really put enough value on our wickets, we played some ordinary shots and it showed.
“The Blue Mountains bowled well, especially (Mick) Emmanuel, but I don’t think they bowled well enough to bowl us out for 129.
“Whenever you post a score above 100 you’re a shout to win a game, batting second is never easy, but it just isn’t enough in representative cricket.
“We did some good things in the field, but, we hadn’t done the job with the bat.”
The Blue Baggers started well after Kennewell won the toss and elected to bat, with openers Matt Baker (16) and John Warrington (27) adding 36 before the former was caught behind off former Mitchell Cricket Council tearaway James Heath (3-19).
Jock Cartwright (0) was bowled not long after and when Josh Doherty (1) and Tom Aggett (0) fell within an over of each other the Blue Baggers were struggling at 4-44.
Doherty and Aggett became Mick Emmanuel’s first two victims, both clean bowled, and he went on to finish with sterling figures of 5-30 from his 10 overs.
Things didn’t improve from there, with John Warrington (27), Ed Wright (2) and Kennewell (5) all falling quickly.
Charlie Mortimer made a hard-hitting 34 in an attempt to mount a counter-attack and Fletcher Rose (21) gave him some assistance, but once they were dismissed the innings was wrapped up quickly at 129.
The Cattle Dogs’ chase was never really in doubt, with skipper John Ford (54), Andrew Schaefer (25) and Nick Hancott (25 not out) making sure they made it over the line.
Teenage leg spinner Lance Hearn was the pick of Orange’s bowlers, taking 2-25 from his 10 overs.
“Lance bowled beautifully, well enough I never even thought about taking him off,” Kennewell said.
“The signs are good for the future. Charlie Mortimer batted well and Fletcher Rose batted and bowled well too, so the young guys did a great job.”
Orange plays Bathurst in the next round of the President’s cup, in January.
If the Blue Baggers are to have any hope of winning the title for the first time in almost a decade, they’ll need to destroy the Bathurst side.
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.
