Dubbo captain Mitch Bower has questioned the current standard of cricket in the city after labelling the side for Sunday’s representative clash with Orange as “one of the weakest” he can remember.
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Selectors have been scrambling all week to find players for the Western Zone Premier League game at No. 1 Oval, with a final squad not even certain on Friday morning.
The Dubbo association has lost a wealth of talent in recent seasons and, according to Bower, that’s one reason the side isn’t as strong while a whole host of cricketers have also made themselves unavailable for the clash for various reasons.
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“It’s one of the weakest Premier League sides I’ve played in, on paper,” Bower said bluntly.
“But people have been given an opportunity and it’s up to them to take it.
“A lot of good players have left and that lowers the standard of the whole competition, not just rep cricket.
“And people aren’t taking big bags of wickets or making lots of runs so people have got to have a look at themselves. Batsmen should be scoring runs and bowlers should be taking wickets.”
Bower, a stalwart of Dubbo representative cricket in recent times, said the interest in the game definitely isn’t as high as it once was but added the city couldn’t expect to continue fielding one powerhouse side after another.
The captain and Marty Jeffrey are the only two current Western Zone players in the side for Sunday’s game, a massive change compared to years gone by when the Dubbo team near-mirrored the Zone team.
“Jordan Moran has left, Henry Railz has moved to Sydney, Will Lindsay has stayed in Mudgee this year and you go back just a couple of years and Tim Berry moved away and Tim Cox retired,” Bower said.
“Greg Buckley isn’t playing Premier League this season, he’s got a new daughter at home. They’re all Western Zone and higher honour players so you can’t just replace them overnight.
“That’s not saying the young blokes now won’t reach those heights but at this time they don’t have the experience and haven’t done those things so it makes it hard.”
Bower added it wasn’t up to him to convince players they should be playing representative cricket on a Sunday.
While ideally club cricketers would strive to play at a higher level, the captain knows it isn’t for everyone.
That’s made the need to replace the likes of Mat Skinner, Ben Patterson, Ben Strachan, Tom Atlee, and Brock Larance so difficult this week.
“It’s all about having fun and if blokes think they’d have more fun at home then they can stay there,” Bower said.
With the likes of Strachan retired from the representative scene, Skinner, Patterson, and Trent Smith unavailable due to work commitments, and Atlee playing in Sydney this weekend the Dubbo bowling attack looks light on.
Bailey Edmunds, Jacob Hill and Souths youngster Lachlan Rayner will be tasked with setting the tone with the new ball while Jeffrey, Stuart Naden, Steve Skinner, and Bower provide the spin options.
“The batting looks alright but the bowling is where we’ll struggle,” he said.
“We’ll look to have a lot of sharp, short spells so the batsmen can’t get comfortable. That’s how we’ll look to approach it.
“We’ll always go out there to win but this could be a tough day.”
Dubbo heads into this game having beaten Bathurst in its opening WZPL fixture.
Play starts 10am at No. 1 on Sunday.
- DUBBO (subject to change): Mitch Bower ©, Marty Jeffrey, Corey McDean, Wayne Dunlop, Thomas Nelson, Ben Wheeler, Stuart Naden, Bailey Edmunds, Jacob Hill, Steve Skinner, Lachlan Rayner, Lee Price.
- ORANGE: Daryl Kennewell ©, Matt Corben, Ryan Kurtz, Josh Doherty, Lachlan Coyte, Nick Dunlop, Charlie Greer, Angus Cumming, Fletcher Rose, Ed Morrish, Mitch Black, Zac Reimer