Last season Mat Skinner was forced to watch from the sidelines as the Orana Outlaws fell just short of defending it’s Plan B Regional Bash crown at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
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Skinner had played a key role during the side’s run to the NSW country cricket Twenty20 title in 2016/17 but last summer he didn’t feature at all as he recovered from a knee reconstruction.
He still made the trip to Sydney to watch on but there was nothing he could do as the Outlaws suffered a 16-run loss to the Newcastle Blasters in the decider.
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“Missing out last year was disappointing but I still went down with the boys and hung around,” he said.
“It’s exciting to be back now … I’m looking forward to it this year.”
Skinner returns to the team for this weekend’s Thunder Conference matches and Bathurst and due to the sheer number of changes to the squad he immediately has become one of the more senior and important members of the side.
Of the squad which makes the trip to Bathurst, only Greg Buckley, Jason Ryan and Marty Jeffrey have figured in the three previous campaigns.
Jeffrey didn’t play a role with bat or ball during the first season while Newtown all-rounder Skinner bowled just two overs and scored one run during the Outlaws’ inaugural run to the finals.
They had to Bathurst as vital cogs in the Outlaws machine, showing just how much the side has changed.
“We’ve got quite a few changes but it’s still a reasonable squad and it should be able to get us to the finals,” Skinner said, his side playing the Central West Wranglers and Illawarra Flame this weekend.
“We’ve still got enough there with the bat and ball even though there is probably about 20 players unavailable. We’ve still got the ability to make it to the finals for a fourth straight year.”
Driving Skinner and the rest of the side is, as has always been the case in the Plan B Regional Bash, the chance to play at the state’s home of cricket, the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The finals day will be played at the hallowed turf on December 2, with the winners of each conference taking part.
“It’s awesome,” Skinner said of being part of the Regional Bash.
“There’s a couple of (Orana) blokes who must not be too excited about or have done it once and didn’t want to play this year but I love it.
“It’s not every day you get to play at the SCG and there’s a lot of good cricketers who never get the chance to do it so I’ll jump at the chance every time.”
The Outlaws take on Wranglers at 2pm on Saturday at the Bathurst Sportsground before meeting Illawarra at 9am on Sunday.