Parkes district cricket side’s Western Zone Premier League chances hang in the balance as they head to Cowra this Sunday to play their final round game of the competition.
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After the restructuring of the competition to include only two round matches, and their loss to Dubbo last week, Parkes head to Cowra needing a victory to secure a semi-final berth when the competition resumes next year.
They head into the important match boasting nearly their strongest line up with a number of batsmen returning to the team.
Against Dubbo last week, Parkes put in a strong bowling and fielding performance to restrict the home side to only 216 runs.
They were in a strong position at 0-59 before a batting collapse saw Parkes out for 146.
While disappointed to lose, Parkes captain Anthony Heraghty said there were many positives to take out of the match.
“We had a plan at the start of the day for our bowling and fielding and we stuck to it which was great,” Heraghty said.
“We bowled nice and straight to specific batsman and the slower bowlers also bowled tight.
“I was very pleased with young Toby Nash and Blake Smith.
“Toby came on when the game was still up for grabs and took four wickets in as many overs.
“Blake bowled 10 overs straight and it was probably the best he has bowled in a while.
“Things are looking good for the season and especially this weekend.
“There were also a couple of good catches and run out chances which is also a good sign going into Sunday’s match,” he said.
A number of batsmen were missing last week but are returning for Sunday’s match.
“We have a couple of players returning for this week’s match against Cowra which will strengthen our line up,” Heraghty said.
“There were a few batsmen, including myself, who made starts last weekend and didn’t go on with it.
“That will play an important role this weekend.
“We need at least one of our top four batsmen to go on and make a big score.
“Otherwise, we will not be changing too much of our plan going into this weekend.
“The batsmen need to be accountable for their wickets which means getting themselves set and going on to make a good score.
“We are pretty confident of a good result this weekend.
“The line up we pick this evening is close to our strongest and Sunday’s match will give us a good idea of where we stand for the upcoming SCG Cup matches which start in November.”
