DUBBO'S representative star Tim Cox believes success in Sunday's Country Championship final would cap off a golden few years for Western Zone.
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Western meet Newcastle at Orange's Wade Park on Sunday in the biggest match in NSW country cricket and Cox believes the current batch of players have a real opportunity to put Western back at the top of the state.
"It would cap off a really nice period of cricket, I was talking to Pat Rosser and ever since we've come back from Sydney in the last five years or so we've been lucky to have a lot of success," he said.
"It would really cap of a successful spell for Western Zone because we've played in three of the past four finals and it would be a great reward for all the hard work put in behind the scenes."
Rosser will miss Saturday's match after moving to the north coast at the start of the year but in-form RSL Colts star Greg Buckley has been called up to take his place.
Newcastle enter the match with a host of star players who have played at NSW Country level.
In a match littered with talented players Cox expects the battle between the Western bowlers and the Newcastle batsmen to go along way to deciding the result.
Western possess an attack featuring seamers Cox, Curtis Free, Ben Patterson, Tim Berry, Will Lindsay and spinners Ryan Medley and Buckley and are all expected to be sued by captain Mitch Bower.
"A lot of them are guys I've played with at NSW Country level, guys like Simon Moore, Mark Littlewood, Greg Hunt and Jeff Goninan so there's some real depth in that batting line-up," Cox said.
"That will be a real strength for them but we've got some depth of talent with our bowing.
"With Lindsay and Tim Berry bowling the middle overs they'll always be at the batsmen and get it to move a bit and they can create pressure after Curtis and I hopefully take early wickets.
"Then we've Ben Patterson who has come back for this game and he would have developed a lot lately after joining Hawkesbury and playing in the Australian under-19 Championships."
Cox said he and some of the other more experienced players would be there for rookie skipper Bower to call on but he felt the new captain had what it took to lead Western to the title.
Bower replaces Rosser as captain and while Cox admits the loss of the former Parkes leader is a blow, he was still confident with the decision.
"Pat has obviously done so much for sport, cricket and rugby league, during his time here and he was a real motivator so he is a loss but with an occasion like this the boys will be fine," he said.
"It's a big opportunity for Mitch, he's been earmarked as a future leader and he's passionate so he'll approach this with real enthusiasm.
"He's got a good pedigree and gains respect but there's plenty of experience so we can help him out with tactics if he wants."
Sunday's match begins at 10am at Wade Park.
o WESTERN: Mitch Bower (captain), Tim Berry, Greg Buckley, Tim Cox, Ryan Medley, Jordan Moran, Ben Patterson (all Dubbo), Anthony Heraghty (Parkes), Michael Curtale (Cowra), Curtis Free (Orange), Josh Toole (Bathurst), Will Lindsay (Mudgee).