After claiming last summer’s wooden spoon, Centrals’ bid to return to the top of Orange District Cricket Association’s pecking order has received a welcome boost with the recruitment of former Kinross tearaway Fletcher Rose.
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The NSW Schoolboys quick donned the red and black for the first time in a casual, intra-club trial at Max Stewart on Saturday, and Centrals skipper Daryl Kennewell says he didn’t miss a beat.
“I always knew he was the kind of character that would fit in well with us and he has,” Kennewell said.
“It’s good to have him board, obviously he’s a really high-quality cricketer but he’s a good kid which is probably more important with the culture we’re trying to build.
“We did get the wooden spoon last year but I don’t think that was in any way reflective of the summer we had. With Fletch coming in and a few young guys another year older, we’re in a good spot going into round one.”
Rose is expected to slot into the side in place of Dan Sandford, who isn’t expected to turn out this summer, and Kennewell said he’ll most likely take the new ball with another big-name quick – Mitch Harvey.
The former Mitchell firebrand is set to return to the red and black fold full-time this summer and with Rose and Kennewell, will form potentially the most-fearsome pace attack in the competition.
“Mitch is as fit as I’ve ever seen him and he’s keen to go,” Kennewell said, with Ed Dodds and Cam Rasmussen also joining the club from Kinross too.
Knocking off the reigning premiers would be a huge thing for us in the first round.
- Centrals skipper Daryl Kennewell
“Having those two take the new ball will be a big boost without [Sandford], then guys like myself and Zac Reimer will roll in as change bowlers.”
The big thing Kennewell highlighted about the likes of Rose and Harvey though is the fact they can bat too, and well.
“At their best they’re probably both top four batsmen really,” Kennewell said.
“I don’t think they’ll bat that high because there’s a few young guys we really want to put some work into, but our batting was the issue last year and adding those two in the middle order gives us a lot of depth, which will help.”
Kennewell’s side hasn’t lost any other massive names, yet, and with that in mind he has his eyes firmly focused on a finals berth.
“That’s definitely realistic for us, everyone wants to win the competition and we do too but the first goal will be to make the finals,” he said, before suggesting a win in round one would send a huge message to the competition.
“We play Orange City first-up, I know they’ve lost a few players but even so knocking off the reigning premiers would be a huge thing for us in the first round.
“I think we can too, we’re looking pretty good and everyone’s keen as anything to get out there.”
The Orange District Cricket Association season starts on Saturday, with CYMS playing last year’s runners-up Cavaliers in the other top grade fixture while Kinross has the bye.
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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.
