The local area’s summer of upheaval has continued, with a host of debutantes and recalled players named in the Macquarie Valley side for this weekend’s clash with Mitchell.
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A number of players have already been called up to Dubbo, Macquarie Valley and Orana Outlaws representative sides this season and that shows no sign of slowing with young guns Charlie Kempston and Tom Atlee called up for Saturday’s match at Orange while RSL-Colts seamer Ben Semmler will debut.
Ryan Medley has also been recalled after not playing any representative cricket so far this summer.
Will Lindsay, Ben Strachan, Chris Russo and Steve Skinner are all unavailable.
“We’ll give them a go and see if they’re up to it,” Macquarie captain Mitch Bower said.
Teenagers Ben Knaggs, Thomas Nelson and Henry Railz have all been named again while Bower, Jordan Moran, Greg Buckley, Mat Skinner and James O’Brien provide the experience.
“We’re probably going to look to out senior batsmen to put on a good score and then use the ball to defend it,” Bower said, referring to himself, Moran and Buckley.
“That will be the biggest part of the gameplan. To score a lot of runs and then bowl simple and tight.”
In terms of the bowling attack, the side is missing a spearhead quick, a role filled be the likes of Tim Cox, Tim Berry and Lindsay in recent years.
But Bower was keen to point to his side’s depth, with O’Brien, Railz, Semmler, Knaggs and Atlee all seamers while Medley and Buckley provide quality spin options.
“We haven’t got that out and out quick or strike bowler but there’s a lot of options,” he said.
“That means I can change it up if some things aren’t working and there probably won’t be any long spells from anyone.”
The Mitchell side is expected to be largely made up of the Bathurst side which defeated Dubbo in the McDonald’s Cup last weekend.
And with the Macquarie side arguably weaker on paper than that Dubbo side was, Bower knows his side faces a real challenge.
“We’ve pretty much just got to rectify the things we did wrong there,” Bower said, after he was the only batsman to fire in that loss. “If we do that we’ll go a long way to winning.”
MACQUARIE: Mitch Bower ©, Jordan Moran, Mat Skinner, Greg Buckley, Henry Railz, Ben Semmler, Ben Knaggs, Thomas Nelson, Charlie Kempston, Ryan Medley, Tom Atlee, James O'Brien.
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
