Western Plains Outlaws' season ended early after not playing their two matches on Sunday

The Outlaws were scheduled to play South Coast Crew and Illawarra Flames on Sunday at Bathurst in their remaining two games of the competition but the two sides pulled out over the weekend, ending their hopes of another Sydney Cricket Ground berth.

Captained by Western Zone star Marty Jeffrey, the Outlaws opted to bring in a host of younger players this season for their one match against Central West Wranglers, something he doesn't regret at all.

"We've been building over the last couple of years, it wasn't the ideal way to sort of start off last week," he said.

"But I think it's important what we are trying to do as the Outlaws brand, trying to build juniors to come through and make it a pathway for kids who want to play representative Twenty20 cricket.

"Then they've got that opportunity to do that all the way from juniors through to seniors.

"It was disappointing that we weren't able to get on and play at the SCG but it's just the way the cookie crumbles."

Jeffrey is confident the Outlaws' success will come and knows growing the junior pathways is a massive step in the right direction.

"All the way from juniors being able to have the Outlaws brand in juniors, having that pipeline allows that opportunity in the shorter form," he said.

"In years gone by it's only been 50-over cricket and you've just had to make do.

"With players being different and aligning more to that style, you can see that is where the game is heading with the shorter form.

"It allows them to showcase their talents all the way through, we'll continue to try to do that next year as well."

Sunday's cancelled matches now mean the Wranglers will advance to the finals day at the SCG on a to-be-determined date.

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Having started slowly against the Wranglers earlier this month, the Outlaws were playing catch-up for most of the game and Jeffrey knows it is hard to regain momentum in short-format cricket.

"It just shows how important is to be on from the get-go in every game you play," he said.

"They outplayed us last week and that's just the way it goes, in short comps like this you've got to be on the money from ball one.

"They were and deserve to go through, they've got a good young side.

"They've had a bit of a refresh over the last few years as well, so we wish them all the best."

While they might be the Outlaws' biggest rivals, the current Western Zone all-rounder said it is nice to see a team from this region make it through.

"It's all for what we are trying to do for the zone as well which is keep Western Zone strong," he said.

"Bathurst and Orange have paved the way over the last few years.

"As the Wranglers go through, it just shows what the hard work of a few blokes over there has done to refresh the system and get young blokes through.

"Guys like Cooper Brien who really put his hand up last week and it really shows how strong the zone is at the moment."

The Outlaws players will now turn their attention to the upcoming Western Zone Premier League competition which is set to begin this weekend.

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