While no one on field was thrilled to have the pitch stricken with rain once again, there was no better backdrop than a rainy one on Sunday as the CYMS Cougars first grade side claimed their first title in recent memory.
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After the first ever limited over cup final was washed out earlier in the month, the Dubbo District Cricket Association rescheduled the one day title match-up between this season's top sides.
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While CYMS were hurt in the lead up by the absence of Ben O'Donnell, Macquarie took the brunt of the bruises from missing players, with Ben Strachan, Jason Green and Dan Medway all ruled out for various reasons.
The top-tier talents absence didn't go unnoticed, with both Macquarie captain Ed Haylock and CYMS skipper Ben Knaggs lamenting that Macquarie weren't at full strength.
"We're happy that we were the front runners through the one day side of the competition for sure, it's just unfortunate that today we had three of our better players ruled out," Haylock said.
"But we still turned up and put on a good show."
Knaggs called the absences 'unfortunate', noting that the two teams had proven themselves the two best sides and that he would have preferred to see a match between them at full strength for the title.
Another point of agreement for the two leaders was the impact of Lachlan Strachan, with the CYMS batsman proving the difference maker between the two competing sides, smashing out 78 runs through the middle of CYMS innings to help the victors to an unassailable total of 187 all out.
"It was a great game," Knaggs said.
"Lachy Strachan today, with his batting did a great job, we had a little bit of a collapse early and with his 78 he really got us back out there on the front foot."
Paddy Nelson (2/23) and Brock Larance (2/11) drew praise for their bowling, taking wickets comfortably for the victors and keeping Macquarie constrained, no easy feat given the conditions the game was played in.
"Everyone did a really, really good job out in the field, especially in the wet conditions, it wasn't easy to bowl or field with the wet ball, but everyone did well," Knaggs said.
"Paddy Nelson and Brock Larance bowled really well, they both opened the bowling really strong, but it was a great team effort all around."
The smooth wicket collection allowed CYMS to finish well ahead of Macquarie, finalising 183 all out to Mcaquarie's 110.
You want the two best sides to be playing each other, they're a very good side and we had to bring our A game.
- Ben Knaggs
Knaggs backed this year's introduction of a third cup aside from the T20 competition and the Whitney Cup, calling the new piece of silverware a strong idea that reflects the way cricket is progressing, especially in the representative arena.
"I think it's a good idea, a lot of other grades around NSW all play one day cricket, when you play representative cricket these days it's all one day, so it's good, it's another incentive for teams to keep playing well all year."
