WHAT is it with rain late in the week during spring and summer months?
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Luckily for Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket players the rain held off for just long enough to get the first two-day clashes of the season underway on Saturday.
And good thing it did too because we got to see history made in the competition thanks to Ed Morrish's eight wicket haul, a once in a blue moon moment in cricket circles.
A couple of clubs already have a first innings victory within reach while others had to spend extra time watching the rain trickle down from the grandstands.
Here's five key takeaways from the first two-day cricket of the season...
1) CENTRALS MIGHT BE BUILDING TOWARDS SOMETHING
Like reading the form guide for a horse who won against a struggling field in his last start - and thinking he's going to repeat that effort against better rivals - it could be dangerous reading too much into Centrals' imminent victory against Kinross.
Centrals are already just four wickets away from earning first innings points against Kinross in their clash at Wade Park and it's a badly needed confidence boost for a team still looking to assert themselves in the 2020-21 picture.
But what does a result tell us about where Centrals are at?
That's difficult to ascertain, given how Kinross' number one aim this season is development instead of victories.
What is evident is that Fletcher Rose (59 runs and 2-20) is one of the best all-round options in the region right now, and Zac Reimer (4-6) is bowling some excellent lines.
Next round's clash with City Colts is a great chance for Centrals to make their case - especially since they will have a great understanding of the Wade Park deck by now.
2) DAVE NEIL IS HUMAN
HE'D averaged 62 over his opening three rounds of the BOIDC season and when he got off to a solid start against St Pat's OId Boys on Saturday Dave Neil looked like producing more of the same.
But he fell for 16 (still good enough for the second highest on his team) in a dismal batting day for CYMS on a challenging Riawena Oval deck.
CYMS felt ready for the challenge after winning the toss and backed themselves to stay the course against a red hot Saints attack but it wasn't to be.
You can't really read much into Neil's stumble when the rest of his team barring Harry West didn't fare any better than him.
Neil still leads the season's individual run scorer tally at 202 from just four innings. The next closest player in that race who has also been to the crease four times in City Colts' Dave Sellers back on 111.
3) ED MORRISH HAS CREATED HISTORY
The glorious eight-fer.
It's a sight rarely seen in cricket but Orange City's Ed Morrish has delivered one to us thanks to his huge day out against Rugby Union.
Morrish has become the first person to claim an eight wicket haul under the re-formed BOIDC competition, staking his claim on a piece of history in the process.
He's now the first person to claim a five wicket haul in both the 2019-20 and the 2020-21 season, and made Orange City the first team this season to have two different players achieve the feat (Shaun Grenfell 5-43 in round two).
Rugby's Imran Qureshi, Jameel Qureshi, Brad Glasson, Sam Macpherson, Olly Newton, Percy Raveneau, Jeremy Thackray and Ryan Smiles all get their unwanted place in BOIDC history as Morrish's eight victims.
Cavaliers' Hugh Britton remains the only player to already manage a pair of five-fer efforts this season.
4) JAMEEL QURESHI IS A ROCK AT THE CREASE
WHILE we're talking about the Orange City and Rugby Union game it's worth giving one man on the Bathurst team, Jameel Qureshi, some time in the spotlight.
Qureshi came within a wicket of carrying his bat as he racked up an incredibly patient 93 runs at Bloomfield Oval.
Five and a half hours of steady strokes after he opened the batting (less than half of his score came from boundaries) Qureshi became the eighth and final Morrish victim.
Innings like these continue to only solidify Qureshi's image as one of the most sensible and calculating batsmen in the Central West.
In a surprising statistic Qureshi hasn't hit a century in club cricket over the past five seasons.
His best scores in that time period over BDCA and BOIDC? 93, 90, 89 and 87.
Triple figures may still elude him but he's providing Rugby with reliability week in, week out.
5) COUPLE OF FORMER BULLS FIRING UP ON NEW TURF
IT turns out Josh Toole isn't the only former Centennials Bulls player enjoying their time at City Colts.
Former Bathurst district captain Russell Gardner is back on the scene this season with the Colts and is currently in a great position with the bat against his former side after a couple of early stumbles in the season.
Gardner will resume on 78 not out this Saturday and has the chance to bag the first century of the BOIDC season.
Toole has come the closest so far with 94.
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