Corben looking to keep his fire burning as Royal Hotel Cup challenge looms

It’s undeniable. 

The wicketkeeper-batter is looking to carry his early-season form into Cavaliers’ first Royal Hotel Cup game on Friday night.  

Corben hit an unbeaten 59 to be the bedrock of Cavaliers’ innings in the first round of the Orange District Cricket Association competition, and was also selected in the Western Wranglers’ side for the Plan B Regional Bash.

He was a crucial part of guiding the outfit to not just its maiden win, but debut finals appearance, with two stumpings in game one – not being needed with the willow – and a crucial 45 not out in the second game. 

While Twenty20 might not be the obvious format for the patient Corben, he said it’s a “good change of mindset” for him. 

“It’s an interesting one, I'm not a big slogger of the ball and can’t hit it as hard or as far as some, but it challenges me in the way I need to set my field rather than copy other players,” he said.

Corben has hit scores in the shorter format before, but he said to be able to do it at the representative level was pleasing – especially as he admitted he “wasn’t hitting it well”. 

“Knowing I can still scrape out those scores even if I’m not hitting as hard or as well as I’d like is good to know,” he said. 

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He said Cavs side will be “pretty similar” to the Saturday competition, with the addition of marquee player Wayne Sellers the only major change. 

“Obviously the batting order will change on the night but everyone’s able to switch between formats pretty easily now, we don't need players specialising in each format,” Corben said. 

“I guess it’ll be good to get back to Twenty20, it’ll be our first game for the season there, still takes time to get there and we’re not quite where we’d like to be.”

Cavs take on reigning premiers Centennial Bulls for their opening game, but Corben has plenty of Twenty20-style options at his disposal to counter their batting prowess, including danger-man Josh Doherty, Ryan Kurtz and Mitch Black. 

The match kicks off at Wade Park at 7.00pm.