DUBBO'S Tim Cox expects tomorrow's Western Zone match between Valleys and Mitchell to be one of the highest quality matches he's been a part of.
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Macquarie Valley have merged with Lachlan to form the Valleys and they meet Mitchell tomorrow in a Western Zone trial match at Lady Cutler 1 and while Cox said the match is a one-off trial there will still be plenty of focus on the result.
"It's going to be a really high standard with the calibre of some of the players, I think it's going to be one of the best zone games I've been involved with," he said.
"One thing within the Western Zone is that the inter-council rivalry has remained strong and with the combination of Macquarie and Lachlan it's created some real enthusiasm."
The Western Zone team will be named after the match as Western look towards the Country Championships at Griffith and right the wrongs of last season where they failed to win a match.
Mitchell have named a strong bowling attack for tomorrow with the likes of Orange's Curtis Free and Chris Novak joined by Bathurst quick Aaron Seymour and Blue Mountains seamer Chris Boothroyd and their battle with Valleys' batting line-up will go a long way to deciding the match.
The Valleys have a star-studded team with leading Dubbo batsmen Jordan Moran and Mitch Bower joined by Parkes duo Pat Rosser and Anthony Heraghty as well as Cowra pair Mick Curtale and Peter Guthrie.
Cox is determined to win tomorrow's match and believes if his batsmen fire on the flat Lady Cutler 3 pitch they could make it a long day in the field for Mitchell.
"Valleys have got some big names and hopefully they can play to their potential," he said.
"I've seen quite a few cricketers in the bush and we've probably got three or four of the hardest hitting batsmen I've seen, there's not many that can hit the ball harder than Pat Rosser, Michael Curtale, Anthony Heraghty and Jordan Moran as well.
"Pat (Valleys captain Pat Rosser) and myself will be setting the team up to win and win the best way we can and giving us the chance to get more guys in the Zone side so while there's a lot on individuals there's certainly that rivalry but with the talent we've got in our side, if our best players play to their ability we should hopefully be able to get the job done."
There is plenty of fire with the ball as well with Cox, coming off an eight-wicket haul for club side Colts last week, complimented well by young guns Ben Patterson and Jacob McNaught while leg-spinner Ryan Medley will provide some variation.
Cox added he was keen to see as many locals at the game as possible with the action starting at 10am.
Following the match the Western team will be named at the Amaroo Hotel before the side immediately goes into camp with an intense Sunday training session.
VALLEYS: Pat Rosser (c), Tim Berry, Mitch Bower, Tim Cox, Michael Curtale, Peter Guthrie, Anthony Heraghty, Jacob McNaught, Ryan Medley, Jordan Moran, Chris Morton, Ben Patterson.