Dubbo skipper Mat Skinner said it was a good thing McDean made that decision because his innings of 84 helped Dubbo to a total of 190 and eventual victory over Parkes at Victoria Park No. 1 Oval on Sunday.

Thomas Nelson (19), Steve Skinner (22) and Jacob Hill (26) led a late order fightback for Dubbo, ably assisting McDean to set Parkes 191 to win of its 50 overs.

Skinner was ecstatic after the win and effusive in his praise for his young teammate.

“It was an awesome display from Corey McDean today,” he said.

“He opened the batting and paced himself well and he produced an excellent innings, everyone batted around him which was good to see, especially the lower order.

“We knew anything around 200 would be very defendable and with grand final pressure we were in with a shot, I can’t praise Corey enough for how well he batted.”

McDean said with four wickets down he knew he had to knuckle down and make some runs.

“I took it on-board to knock the ball around a bit and be patient during the middle overs,” he said.

“It was good to have Stuart Naden with me with his mature head he really helped me out.

“It was good to get a decent score, Parkes bowled exceptionally well, especially early on and if they had of won, they would have deserved it.

“At some stages, I thought I had to stay out in the middle, but I knew if the ball was up in the slot I had to hit them, it was good to have the confidence to do that today.”

Skinner said his bowlers should be happy with their efforts to secure the shield.

“We were a bit off our lines early, but Stuey Naden and Steve Skinner (4-34) tied them up in the middle and when we came back on after drinks we squeezed them for runs, our bowlers should be proud of themselves too,” he said.

Parkes captain Anthony Heraghty said he was disappointed with the result because his team was in a winning position more than once during the match.

“If someone told me this morning when I woke up that we’d keep Dubbo to 190 on a road I would have taken that,” he said.

“We were 3-140 at 35 overs we shouldn’t have been beaten from there.

“At the end of the day full credit to Dubbo, they bowled great lines, they bowled to their field and full and straight and they’ve done that twice to us this year.”