Although CYMS and Kinross sit third and fifth on the Orange District Cricket Association ladder, respectively, the goal in this weekend’s final regular season round is exactly the same for the pair of finals hopefuls – win.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Both sides will have to secure a victory, although to make up the points difference Kinross’ needs to be substantially bigger, if they want to feature in the post-season.
Sitting third with a 4.8-point buffer to Centrals and another 1.92 clear of Kinross, CYMS are in the box seat to seal the third and final spot available in the competition’s post-season, especially considering Centrals face competition-leaders Orange City.
“I think we can probably expect to see Orange City beat Centrals, on form anyway,” CYMS stand-in skipper Peter Gott, who is under zero illusions regarding his own side, said.
“The way we’ve been playing, I think we deserve to be in this position, we haven’t played our best cricket yet and playing Kinross with both sides needing to win is a pretty accurate reflection of the season I think.
The way we’ve been playing, I think we deserve to be in this position.
- CYMS' stand-in skipper Pete Gott
“They’ll obviously be champing at the bit to have a crack at us considering they can still make the finals, but I know our guys are really keen to have a good crack at it as well.
“[Being in this position] is new ground for a lot of the guys, but I’m very confident we’ll be up to it. These Saturday-Sunday games are always a very different kettle of fish, I’m sure we can get the job done.”
Despite the unavailable players Gott mentioned, the inclusion of all-rounder is good news for CYMS.
“Ed Wright is a big inclusion. We’ve played most of the season without the luxury of a spinner, so having him in to bowl his offies and take the pressure off is great,” Gott said, also pointing to Tom Belmonte and Mick Hannelly as crucial factors.
“I’ll look to him to take a fair bit of that bowling load being the longer form of the game and he’ll probably bat in the middle order too, so he’ll play a big role I think.
“Micky Hannelly comes back in as well, he’s batted well all season and tonned up last time we played Kinross, and Tommy Belmonte made 50 that game as well.”
Saturday’s first day at Wade Park starts at 1pm, with Sunday’s second day kicking off at 11am.