In the short history of the Plan B Regional Bash the Orana Outlaws have established themselves as one of the most dangerous Twenty20 outfits in regional NSW.
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Names like Jordan Moran, Mitch Bower, Nathan Pilon and Ben Strachan have been put up in lights as the Outlaws have powered to three successive finals appearances at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The highlight was a title win in 2016/17, however, a charge towards a third decider in four seasons shapes as the squad’s most difficult challenge yet.
Outlaws CEO Jason Ryan has only been able to call on a handful of players who have formed the nucleus of his side in recent years, leaving him with virtually an entirely new squad for this weekend’s Thunder Conference matches at Bathurst.
The Outlaws will take on local rivals the Central West Wranglers on Saturday before clashing with the Illawarra Flames on Sunday.
The winner of the pool then advances to the finals day at the SCG on December 2.
However, Ryan is looking too far ahead yet.
“We’ve got three or four blokes who have a lot of experience in this format but the rest will really be playing by ear,” Ryan said, gearing up for this third campaign as Outlaws leader.
“It’s all new for them but hopefully we can get off to a good start on Saturday. If we can click right away and get that win then we should be right for the Illawarra game.
“If not, we might as well pack our bags and go home.”
Moran, Bower, Strachan, Wes Giddings, James O’Brien, Will Lindsay, Anthony Heraghty, Brock Larance, Ben Patterson, Jacob McNaught and Jacob Harvey will all be missing this weekend, for various reasons.
Moran has moved to Victoria, O’Brien and Lindsay aren’t playing any type of cricket this season, others have work or personal commitments, while some have just decided not to take part in the NSW Country Cricket tournament this year.
“It is a little disappointing,” Ryan said of the absentees.
“There’s been all the hard work for three years now and we’ve had some great results and at the end of the day the reward you can get is a pretty good one. You get to play on the SCG so for some to not want to be a part of that is a bit disappointing.”
Ryan has been scrambling right up to this week in order to pick a squad and while the build-up to this weekend has been far from ideal, he still has faith in those chosen.
Greg Buckley and Mat Skinner have been labelled as key to the side’s hopes this season while the pressure is on Marty Jeffrey to step up and take on a senior role.
Newcomers like Trent Smith, Bailey Edmunds and Steve Skinner come into the team with form behind them.
“We’ve lost a lot of experience. There’s a lot of pressure,” Ryan said.
Making the Outlaws’ chances slightly easier is the withdrawal from the conference of the South Coast Crew. The Crew struggled to fill a squad before the trip to Bathurst, leaving three sides fighting for the one spot.
“Just two games and only the one on Sunday might not be a bad thing,” Ryan said.
The Outlaws meet the Wranglers at 2pm at Bathurst Sportsground on Saturday.
- ORANA: Greg Buckley, Mat Skinner, Marty Jeffrey, Steve Skinner, Tom Atlee, Corey McDean, Trent Smith, Bailey Edmunds, Chris Morton, Jordan Peacock, Jacob Hill, Stuart Naden, Jason Ryan.