By NICK GUTHRIE

DUBBO captain Tim Cox is backing his bowling attack to do the job once again when his side meets Bathurst on Sunday for a spot in the final eight of the SCG Country Cup.

Dubbo brushed aside Orange by nine wickets in their previous match while Bathurst sprung a huge surprise, defeating Parkes at their Woodward Oval fortress to set up this weekend's Western Zone final at No. 2 Oval.

The batting line-up has been dealt a blow with Western Zone star Jordan Moran unavailable while Asher Robins also misses out, with Mat Skinner and Ben Taylor coming into the Dubbo side.

Skinner and Taylor, who both open for club sides Newtown and Rugby respectively, further boost a bowling unit featuring Cox, Ben Patterson, Tim Berry, Ben Strachan and spinners Ryan Medley and Greg Buckley.

"I think it really covers all bases, you can throw anyone the ball and they'll do the job," Cox said.

"There's plenty of options so that's a real luxury as a captain."

The captain admitted it was a surprise to be going up against Bathurst rather than Parkes but he said that was no reason to underestimate Sunday's opponents, adding Bathurst's progress was good for cricket in the Western Zone.

"It's been Parkes for about the last four years I think but now it's Bathurst and that's great for them and it's great that they want to stand up and be recognised," he said.

"They've been in the pipeline for a couple of years, they've got some good players and they've had some younger players who have now come through and started to dominate.

"They've got a pretty well balanced side and they're going to be up for it so that will be good for us and we'll have to be at our best to get past them."

Cox highlighted Jameel Qureshi, who scored a century against Parkes, Josh Toole and Joe Coughlan as key players for Bathurst while within his own ranks he said his batsmen will have to cover the loss of Moran.

"Jordan is a big loss, he was in magic touch for Western and he had a great carnival but it's opportunity for Mat Skinner, who's been excellent for Newtown this season, to come in and score runs and 'BT' (Taylor) is a handy all-rounder too," he said.

"There's a lot of depth there, we've got Jason Ryan, Greg Buckley, Chris Morton and Tim Berry who are all handy and Ryan Medley opens for his club side and has opened the batting in Sydney so hopefully our depth will get us through."

Cox, who was named in the NSW Country squad earlier this week, will have a busy weekend with a Bush Blues training session at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday and a team dinner that night before flying back to Dubbo on Sunday morning for the game against Bathurst, which begins at No. 2 Oval at 10am.

DUBBO: Tim Cox (c), Tim Berry, Greg Buckley, Mitch Bower, Paul Hulthen, Ryan Medley, Chris Morton, Ben Patterson, Jason Ryan, Mat Skinner, Ben Strachan, Ben Taylor, Marty Jeffrey (13th man).