Firstly perspective is crucial because at the end of the day cricket's just a game and there's far more important things, like players' health. On the field Orange City were proven beatable and a couple of sides were left desperately unlucky.

Here's the five biggest talking points from the final round before Christmas.

Were Saturday's top-grade games in Bathurst called off too early?

On face value I think you could definitely argue calling games off more than three hours before the start of play is too early. Don't get me wrong, because in no way does that mean we should argue that point.

When the issue is rain I won't take a backward step in my opinion a decision should never be made until at least the scheduled start of play assuming the wickets are covered, but this isn't about wet weather, it's about air quality.

Players' health and well-being has to be the first priority and there's a big difference between potentially slipping over in the wet compared to playing in conditions well, well, well above what is deemed hazardous on the Air Quality Index.

The games could've been called off on Friday too so the decision-makers did wait longer than they could have to pull the trigger. In retrospect the decision was absolutely correct too because I'm told conditions worsened in Bathurst after the call was made.

You'll never please everyone with these decisions and while maybe there was scope to wait another hour or two anyone who begrudges the decision makers for pulling the trigger when they did is being, straight up, ridiculous.

Of course we should be doing everything possible to make sure players are getting as much game time as possible but at the end of the day it is just that, a game of cricket, park cricket at that, so we need to keep everything in perspective.

In the space of just a few hours on Saturday afternoon Orange City went from looking all but untouchable to appearing somewhat, dare I say it, vulnerable.

The Warriors had ticked all the boxes in the first eight weeks of the summer. Undefeated through those four rounds they'd won batting first and second, consistently scored almost 300 or more, hadn't been bowled out and had been just as impressive with ball in hand.

Put simply they'd been absolutely dominant and continued that in the opening week of the fifth round too, keeping a powerful Cavaliers line up to what looked a well-below-par total of 238 before knocking almost 50 of them off that night, without losing a wicket.

Wade Park was flatter and harder on Saturday's second day too, so one - and by that, I mean everyone - could only assume the Warriors would make light work of their chase and stay undefeated on top of the table going into the new year.

Then they rolled over, they were still sitting pretty at 1-112 in reply and then the two-time defending Orange champions promptly lost 9-63 to limp to just 175.

Any side can have a bad day, any side is capable of a collapse, that's not in question. The thing is, though, outside the past couple of seasons this is a club that has a history of doing so pretty regularly, particularly in big games.

Orange City looked to have shed that reputation, but Saturday's collapse brings back memories they'll want - or rather, need - to squash in the first game back after Christmas.

Straight up I hate myself for actually writing the word 'gonna' regardless of the context, because it's not a real word and it makes me cringe looking at it but I suppose Daryl Braithwaite's forced my hand.

I'm here to offer some of the competition's batters a little bit of advice regarding CYMS' spinner Al Dhatt because in the two games he's played it's quite clear no one has any clue how to play him.

Al's a magnificent bowler, that isn't in question and his record is up there with the best in the business.

He's no magician though, so unless he's suddenly popped up with a doosra that can't be picked I'd wager the wily left-arm tweaker is getting batters out the same way he used to when I was still playing.

Al's never been a massive turner of the ball and while there's a little bit of grip there in the right conditions, the way he really gets wickets is my pressuring batters into making mistakes. That might sound obvious, but it's more about controlling tempo than dot-ball pressure.

He'll bowl an over in 45 seconds if a batter lets him, that's no exaggeration. He pulls out all the tricks in the book to rush a batter, then rush them some more, and then rush them more on top of that.

Coupled with his incredible control, so many bats just get so frustrated, flustered and don't stop to think about what they're doing, then they lose their head and don't realise how badly they've been baited until they're halfway off the paddock.

Al did it to me about 20 times, so the short message here, take the pace off the game and control the tempo.

There's no guarantees that will stop him getting you out because he is such a fine exponent of his art, but it'll give you a fighting chance at least.

After a super promising start to the summer, so promising I said they'd play finals cricket, Kinross have now lost three games on the trot and they seemed to be spiralling further and further downward with each defeat.

In the first few rounds you'd have backed them to chase 173 for victory every day of the week, but they fell well short of that on Saturday afternoon.

With that in mind the Christmas break has come at the perfect time for Kinross, because losing becomes a habit the same way winning does and having some time away from the game gives the students a chance to completely reset.

Momentum is important in this kind of competition and after losing to Centennials Bulls on Saturday the students had zero, but after the break no side will take the field with any momentum at all, so Kinross can start from scratch.

They're not yet out of the running in terms of playing finals but shrugging off that losing run in the first game back will be crucial, getting that momentum back has to be their main priority.

You have to feel for St Pat's Old Boys, and City Colts for that matter.

As I said above the decision to abandon their games and call them draws was the correct one, but it's still impacted both sides pretty heavily in terms of the standings and even though they couldn't control it, you just hope it doesn't have too big an affect long term.

St Pat's Old Boys would have beaten Rugby Union and I'd wager with 300-plus on the board, a declaration looming and a full day at the Bulldogs they'd have been eyeing a potential outright win.

At the very least a first-innings victory that, considering Orange City's loss, would've lifted them into a three-way tie at the top with the Warriors and Cavaliers.

They didn't get the chances and with their lone point for a draw, they're now five points adrift of the two Orange sides.

Sitting third at the halfway point of the season certainly isn't a bad position to be in but it could've been so much better and you hope the points they didn't have the chance to get don't end up costing them a top two spot, or even the minor premiership.

And poor City Colts, well, they were in the box seat against Bathurst City but instead of celebrating their first win of the summer they're still winless, they're still last and they may well have run their race now in terms of playing finals cricket.