MACQUARIE Hotel (201) will look for early wickets as they attempt to secure first innings points against Wauchope RSL on Saturday.
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Captain Josh Hyde said the key to success with the ball was with creating pressure.
“We need to keep landing the ball in the same area for four, five and six balls an over,” he said.
Hyde expects the pitch to play better than it did last week.
“It’ll be even better for batting this week and they’ve got two very good bats at the crease,” he said.
Hyde will look to Brendan Badenoch for a long spell with the ball. He is a likely starter.
“He’s grown a leg so to speak over the last couple of weeks,” the captain said.
“I think the fun factor is back for him and that’s good for us because we need him bowling well.”
Wauchope captain Matt Day and Tony Brown will have other ideas when they head out to the middle with their side at 3-53.
“The first hour is absolutely crucial,” Day said.
“We need to negate that part of the day without losing too many wickets because we want a first innings result our way – that’s our plan.”
Day knows they will have to work hard against a Macquarie side who won’t give much away and it isn’t a case of the batsmen seeing off the bowlers.
“In two-day cricket you can’t afford to do that because blokes can bowl all day,” the captain said.
“It’s about playing smart cricket and lot losing wickets in clumps.”
He felt if Wauchope batted out their overs it would go a long way to securing first innings points.
“There’s no pressure on us to do that because we know we can bat out our overs; we did it against Macquarie a few weeks back.”
Ethan McKenna is out with an Achilles problem which will see Robbie Parker come in as an emergency replacement.