With skipper Joey Coughlan sidelined with injury and Ben Orme unavailable, Bathurst City had a huge void to fill in Friday night's huge Royal Hotel Cup showdown against Cavaliers.
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Enter Ben Patterson, Redbacks' monstrous marquee.
Patterson, a former Western Zone, NSW and Australian Country quick, has a break from NSW Premier Cricket duties and will make his debut for the side at Wade Park on Friday night.
With his impressive resume fireworks were almost guaranteed anyway, even more so considering his first appearance for Redbacks comes against his old club - he was formerly Cavaliers' marquee.
Redbacks just happen to be chasing revenge for their Bathurst-Orange Inter-District Cricket loss to Cavaliers in round two, too.
He'll pose a big threat with the bat and the ball here, he has done in the past... and he's only got better since.
- Injured Redbacks skipper Joey Coughlan
"It's a big game for us and with myself and Ormey out, it's great to have Patto on board for this one," Coughlan, who's awaiting scans on a potentially broken thumb, said.
"I'd back our guys completely even without the two of us there, but having Patto come into the side is obviously a massive boost, especially considering any loss in the competition could cost you a finals spot."
Patterson is plying his trade for Campbelltown-Camden in Sydney's top grade this summer, and Coughlan said he's hopeful he'll explode with bat and ball for Redbacks.
Not just as they look to back-up their first win over Kinross either, but for the remainder of the summer where he can.
"He's playing as an all-rounder in Sydney so he'll pose a big threat with the bat and the ball here, he has done in the past when he was in Dubbo and he's only got better since," Coughlan said.
"We don't want to be a one-man band by any means but if he gets going, hopefully the other boys can rotate the strike for him and everyone plays their role with the bat, that's about running hard and rotating the strike regardless of who's in.
"Then with the ball, well, he's bowling quick, really quick from what I've seen in the nets, we'll just unleash him."
Coughlan also said having Patterson's experience among a reasonably young squad will be a huge benefit, and he urged his teammates to learn from the former Dubbo gun.
"He's playing first grade in Sydney and he has experience all over the world, so I'd definitely hope all the guys, especially the young guys can get something from it too," Coughlan said.
"I'm looking forward to seeing him in action again out here, and having him board hopefully all the way through the [preliminary stage] and then the finals."
Bathurst City face Cavaliers, who won their first game of the tournament over Centrals, from 6.30pm at Wade Park on Friday.
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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.
