Orange City skipper Ed Morrish is well aware Centennials will be his side's biggest Royal Hotel Cup challenge so far on Friday night, especially considering they're facing the Bulls in a sudden-death, semi-final blockbuster.
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Having a full-strength side at his disposal is a big boost though, particularly the inclusion of Western Zone quick Jackson Coote, who will make a timely return to the Warriors' line up on Friday night.
Coote, Orange District Cricket Association's 2010-11 player-of-the-year, has been sidelined since January with a back strain and despite a somewhat indefinite initial time-frame for recovery, has been named to make his comeback against the Bulls.
Considering the left-arm tearaway is also a former Central West Wrangler and NSW Country Colt, he will no doubt add a vital cog to Morrish's already-enviable bowling machine that includes the skipper himself and the likes of Brett Causer and marquee all-rounder Stu Naden.
"We weren't really sure when he'd be able to come back to be honest, but he's feeling confident enough in his back to play on Friday and we've named him for Saturday too which is great for us," Morrish said.
"Obviously a player of his calibre is good to have in any side, especially in this format because he's probably one of the more experienced Twenty20 players in the Western Zone."
However, Coote and the rest of the Warriors' attack is set to come up against a couple more of Western's most-experienced short-form guns on Friday night.
The Bulls, who won two of their preliminary games compared to Orange City's three, boast a powerhouse line-up led by Josh Toole and reigning joint Carl Sharpe Medal winners Mick Curtale and Ryan Gurney - the latter won the competition's MVP the summer before that too.
"We've had him on our side in this competition and a lot of us have played with and against him for a long time, so we know how destructive he can be," Morrish said of Toole, the reigning champions' biggest threat and a former Orange City marquee.
"He's obviously a real key for them with the bat and in the field but they've got a lot of good players who have done the job in this competition before, we're looking forward to the challenge and I'm sure the Bulls are too.
"They're a dangerous side and we're aware we need to be at our best if we're going to have a chance of beating them.
"It might be cliche but I just want my guys to leave it all out there, if they put everything into we'll give ourselves every chance of winning and if we don't, we can be satisfied we were beaten by a better side."
While the Warriors have plenty of knowledge on the Bulls, Centennials skipper Andrew Brown actually said he doesn't know much about their Orange-based rivals.
"I don't know too much about them, but we played them once last season," he said.
"We did beat them though."
The opening delivery of Friday night's blockbuster semi-final will be bowled at 7pm at Wade Park, with the toss expected around 6.45pm.
- ORANGE CITY: Dave Boundy, Shaun Grenfell, Blake Weymouth, Lachlan Coyte, Andrew Gordon, Stu Naden (marquee), Ed Morrish ©, Craig Rogan, Darren Barrett, Brett Causer, Shaun Kirby, Jackson Coote
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