The Spring Hill Wood Ducks are absolutely flying as the Orange District Cricket Association Third Grade competitions heads into the new year and so much of the reason they're sitting 18 points clear atop the standings is wicketkeeper-bat Dal Marsh.
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Channeling the raw power of his West Australian namesakes Shaun and Mitch, Marsh has bludgeoned his way to the top of the competition's run-scoring ranks in the opening half of the summer and has done so at a whopping average of more than 53.
Marsh's conversion rate does leave plenty to be desired considering he hasn't passed triple figures yet this summer but that is, at least, a nod to his consistency considering he's pumped out six half centuries across his 11 digs.
They came consecutively too and, incredibly, the tidy gloveman - although he has bowled at times this summer too - lifted with just about every half-ton.
After starting the season with a reasonably lean trot - scores of 37, 4 and 15 - Marsh hit his straps against CYMS Bourkes in round four with a form-finding knock of 51, which he followed with five more half centuries.
He then belted 57 against the Gladstone, 54 against Centrals White, 62 not out against Cavaliers and an unbeaten 70 against Orange before falling just short of that elusive ton against CYMS Bourke, continuing to be that side's bane with a swashbuckling 95.
While his last two digs have netted scored of just 20 and 15 he's left no doubt how big a danger he poses when he strides to the crease and his form has been the main catalyst for the Wood Ducks' run of 10 wins from the opening 11 games of the season.
Although, that wasn't really in question considering his recent history, he's been among the top run-scorers for the past few seasons.
Last summer he belted 775 runs in Spring Hill's run to the semi-finals including two tons, he was bested only by the Gladstone's traditional powerhouse Ben McAlpine, who belted 937 runs in 2018-19.
The summer before he topped the Fourth Grade run-scoring stakes as well with 595 runs at 54.09. With those three being his only seasons in the ODCA's competitions, his career record stands at a pretty incredible 1,938 runs at 51.
He's had help from former Centrals, Orange and Mitchell Cricket Council all-rounder Mitch Harvey as well, who's contributed 370 runs this summer at an average of more than 50 as well, to sit sixth on the run-scoring list.
In a show of the ability that once him pegged as a potential new-ball option for Western Zone, Harvey is also second on the wicket-taking tally too. He's claimed 19 scalps at 10.89 runs apiece, and sits behind only CYMS' Cino Kurian.
Kurian's had a remarkable summer with the ball so far, taking a whopping 26 scalps at 9.23.
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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.
