A slightly new-look Parkes team know it will be in for a tough clash when they travel to face the team that beat them in last season’s final.

Dubbo are in decent form after they dominated Cowra last Sunday in the opening round of the competition.

Dubbo scored a mammoth 317 off their allotted 50 overs while Cowra could only muster 174 before they were all out.

Parkes captain Anthony Heraghty believes his side has the players and the game plan to beat Dubbo.

“The main thing for us to work on this Sunday is for our bowlers to bowl nice and full and straight,” Heraghty said.

“We know the tracks in Dubbo are nice and flat and the ball comes on pretty well. 

“If we stick to our plan on being full and straight we can restrict them to only a couple of shots. 

“I think if we do that, we can chase whatever total is set or defend our own score,” he said.

Young gun Brent Tucker enjoyed an excellent last season and will likely lead the bowling attack again on Sunday.

Tucker will be supported by the experienced Phil Dunford who after deciding to retire from representative cricket at the end of last season, has had a change of heart to go around again.

The pair will hope to make early inroads into the Dubbo batting line up and put pressure on their star batsmen Jordan Moran.

The Parkes batting line up has a good mix of experience and youth and will be led by Heraghty and Peter Yelland. 

The pair have differing approaches to batting, Heraghty is explosive while Yelland is meticulous.

They have proven to be a very strong combination over the past few years.

“The top order will look to get us off to a good start and lay the platform for our middle and late order batsmen which includes hard hitting Pat Rosser,” Heraghty said.

“Pat can be very destructive when he comes in with a solid platform to build upon.

“Hopefully we will provide that for him on Sunday.

“Dubbo have a good balanced bowling attack with experienced openers Tim Cox and Ben Pattison leading the way.

“Last week their young leg spinner Ryan Medley claimed 8-33 against Cowra.

“We will try and not let them settle into a rhythm and keep them off balance.”

Parkes suffered some indifferent pre-season form in their trial matches.

Heraghty is positive his side will be ready for Sunday’s match.

“We were pretty disappointed with our performances with the trial games,” Heraghty said.

“It is to be expected a bit as no one really had much training and they were our first games. 

“We have since worked hard in training including on our fielding and had a really good and tense session run by Pat Rosser on Tuesday. 

“I’m sure the squad took a lot away from that and will be ready to fire against Dubbo.

“We have a simple but effective game plan which can help us roll teams cheaply, even on run-conducive pitches.

“If we stick to these plans and bowl good line and length as well as bat with determination, we will go a long way to getting the win on Sunday,” he said. 

The Parkes District cricket team would like to thank sponsors Parkes Leagues Club, Cameron Rosser Mechanical and Yelland Agronomy.