PORT Macquarie Pirates will look to get their victory tally off the mark for season 2019/2020 when they clash with Wingham at Wayne Richards Park on Saturday.
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Pirates are one of only two teams still searching for the first win of the Mid North Coast Premier Cricket League season alongside Taree West after a disrupted opening three rounds.
Their opening round fixture against Port City was washed out with the Magpies 0/9 chasing 102 before they fell 13 runs short against Taree United in round two.
Connor Cook's men had the bye last weekend.
He will hope his team can provide him with a belated birthday present after celebrating his 17th birthday on Thursday.
The captain admitted their disrupted start to the season hadn't been ideal, but they were now looking to settle into a groove.
"It's not ideal and you'd like to play more regularly, but it's good to get the bye out of the way early in the season so we can focus on the next few weeks," he said.
"We've had two weeks off, but a couple of the players have gone down and played first grade so we've still had a bit of cricket."
Cook said his team had learned from their loss to United that it was important to "stay in the game".
"You can't give up and you need to take the game deep to give yourself a chance," he said.
Wingham have started the season in impressive form and will look to make it three wins from three starts following their opening-round bye.
The Pirates skipper knows his team will have their work cut out, but admitted they wouldn't spend a lot of time on specific players in the opposition lineup.
"Wingham are a really good side and have a couple of big-name players, but there's not really any player we're focusing on too much," he said.
"We're just trying to improve week to week and hope everyone can play their role."
One of the players in the Wingham lineup that Pirates will have to keep quiet, though, is captain Michael Rees.
He's one of the most destructive batsmen in the competition, but he hasn't had a bat this season.
"Round four and I haven't had a bat yet - how good is that,'' Rees said.
He has opened the batting since returning to the club two seasons ago, but Ben Scowen's comeback this summer has resulted in Rees dropping down the order to five.
"I'll bat where I'm needed,'' he said.
"But I'm happy at five.''
Scowen missed last season due to work commitments but will be available for most matches this campaign.
He will open the batting alongside Ryan Morris with Josh McTaggart at three and Ben Cole at four in what Rees said is a powerful lineup.
"We have Ryan MacGregor and Mick Stinson at eight and nine and they'd be in the top four in most sides,'' he pointed out.
Elsewhere, Port City Leagues Magpies travel to Chatham Park to take on United while Rovers host Taree West.
Wauchope have the week off.
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