COWRA'S Mick Curtale has been labelled the most destructive batsmen in the Western Zone prior to the start of the Southern NSW Country cricket Carnival in Griffith today.
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Curtale made selection two Sunday's ago after the Valleys and Mitchell trial match in Dubbo which resulted in a comprehensive victory to the Valleys.
He now takes his spot in the Western Zone batting line-up where coach and selector Matt Crawley reckons he can be the teams X-factor.
"We believe he's our most destructive batsmen and we think he'll win us at least one game over the three days. If he can contribute more then that, that will only add to our success," Crawley said.
"He's very highly regarded in the team and he could be our X-factor in the middle-order."
The boys from out west will head into their opening clash with a quality preparation and preseason behind them including a camp in Blacktown and a match against Hawkesbury on top of a busy beginning to the local inter-town season.
The Zone team is jam-packed with senior players who have represented at high levels in previous seasons.
Skipper for the third consecutive year, Pat Rosser and new-ball bowler Tim Cox are leading the pack in that regard having both played Country cricket at the opens level before.
Pace-bowlers Will Lindsay and Tim Berry, however have also proved themselves with several years playing Sydney grade cricket which is something Crawley sees as a key to Western Zone's success this weekend.
"Our keys are Cox, Lindsay and Berry, to get 30 medium pace overs out of them each day will grind down teams and should bag us some wickets," he said.
Western Zone failed to win a match last year at the respective carnival but Crawley is quietly confident with how Western Zone's preparation has shaped over the last few months and expects to see improvement.
"It's been a long build up, preparation has been thorough. There's a good vibe, positive feeling and we've got the right group, we're keen to settle in on that first morning now and set the tone for the weekend," he said.
"I'm not concerned about anyone playing at the next level, they can all handle it.
Western Zone match up with the hosts at 10am this morning in the opening round, probably the most crucial round of the tournament and Crawley couldn't of agreed more.
"Absolutely, they [Riverina] got the home ground advantage and they beat us first up last year so we got one to get back at them," he said.
The winner of the carnival will play reigning champions Newcastle for the NSW Country title.