Dubbo to host annual Max Shepherd Shield cricket carnival

Six teams from around Western Zone will compete at the annual Max Shepherd Shield from Tuesday through to Thursday.

Dubbo starts its campaign against Orange on Tuesday while Gilgandra-Wellington meets Bathurst and Lachlan Shire takes on the Western Zone girls' side.

"It's excellent," Dubbo coach Ian Marchant said of the long-running under 14s carnival.

"It will get rid of a few cobwebs for some of the players who might have been a bit lax during the off-season.

"Footy and soccer has finished so this is a great carnival to get them back into the cricket season, especially the representative side and moving towards the higher carnivals."

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Marchant and assistant coach Janet Mansour have plenty of talent at their disposal this week and they're quietly confident about the side's chances, but the carnival is also about much more than wins and losses.

Many of the players involved in this carnival will go on to represent Western Zone or play at high-level carnivals like the Youth Championships and this week gives them the chance to get back into the swing of things.

"While we want to stay competitive and be as competitive as we can they're only 13 and 14 (years old)," Marchant said.

"It's good to play Orange and Bathurst and try and get bragging rights over them but they are young and it's about having fun and getting back into cricket."

While there's always some uncertainty around the Max Shepherd Shield in regards to how players have developed over the off-season or which ones spent plenty of time training, there's plenty of talent in the Dubbo lineup.

Marchant is delighted to welcome Austin Hunt back into the fold after he had a season away from cricket last summer and he's likely to become a key player for Dubbo immediately.

Ashton Deebank is coming off a bumper 2021/22 representative season while Harvey Marchant showcased his ability against adults in the RSL Pinnington Cup second grade competition last summer and Billie Caton "played fantastic cricket" last summer.

"I'm hoping to kick off this rep season with those boys firing," the coach added, before speaking about his side's chances.

"Fingers crossed. Some of them might be a bit rusty but there's definitely potential and talent to do really well."

Every team will play three matches across the three days and the team with the best record will be crowned the champion.

Matches start at 10.30am on Tuesday, with Dubbo taking on Orange at the Lady Cutler Pavans ground.

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