Early wickets again proved Central North’s undoing as they suffered a second straight Bradman Cup loss at Bathurst on Tuesday.
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The under 16s side found themselves 3-17 before scrambling to 95.
That was always going to be a tough total to defend, and so proved to be, with Newcastle taking only 21 overs to chase down the runs.
“I think early wickets once again got the better of us,” skipper Isaac Barry said.
“And also the pitch was a lot different to how we thought it was going to play. When we first went out there and had a look, it looked like a complete batting deck.”
But it didn’t turn out to be.
“It was staying low and popping up, and doing a bit of everything,” he said.
Barry was one of only five batsmen to reach double figures, Armidale’s Henry Sindel the best performer with 18 at eight.
“It was difficult batting early and a few of the batsmen struggled,” Barry said.
With few runs to play with, he said they went as hard as they could straight away with the ball.
But with the pace bowlers not really troubling the batsmen, he had to change the plan around and bring on the spinners and medium pacers a bit earlier.
It also meant he had to try and set a balanced field of defence and attack.
Eventually they got the breakthrough they wanted. A second wicket just before lunch gave them a flicker of hope but they were quickly quashed.
“We were beaten by a better side,” Barry said.
He was proud of the way his side didn’t give up and highlighted their intensity in the field as one of the positives.
Beau Parnell and Sindel particularly were good in the field.
Barry also noted Sindel’s efforts with the bat.
As far as the bowlers, Barry said Matt Lynch (1-20) bowled well.
“He bowled very well for a number four batsmen that rarely bowls,” he said.
“But the deck suited his bowling.”
Kaleb McIveen and Conrad George also did a pretty good job.
Central North face another tough assignment on Wednesday against the unbeaten Central Coast.
”Hopefully we can regroup and have a good day and hopefully get a good total on the board,” Barry said.