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It's the perfect remedy for a successful season, and it seems Cavaliers may just have the right ingredients for an assault on the finals of the Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket competition.
Having defeated Bathurst City Colts in the last round, Cavaliers sewed up second place to set up a grand final qualifier against CYMS this weekend. And it was their main man who did the heavy lifting, with captain Matt Corben hitting his first century of the season for a first innings victory.
Cavaliers resumed its innings 0/8 after skittling City Colts for 97 on day one.
Corben's opening partner Bailey Ferguson was gone for a duck on the second day while Cam Laird departed for one with the side 2/11.
Corben then took control with his 121 including 18 4's and four 6's. The skipper said the plan was always to be aggressive once his side had passed the required total.
"We thought if we had to bat again it'd be another two overs out of the day so we didn't really want that because of the time we lost last week," he said.
"We thought bat once and bat big and see where we were at. Going into it it was primarily about getting to 97 then re-assess and see where we were at.
"Lucky enough it was at Loco Oval and it was small and pretty quick so you can catch up pretty quickly. We scored them pretty quickly which was good and it left us 50 overs to go at them."
Cavaliers couldn't secure the outright victory though, with Henry Shoemark continuing his superb form this season to hit another hundred, finishing 102 not out.
Despite the disappointment of not taking all available points, Corben was delighted to finish the regular season so well, taking the focus off his hundred.
"It's good to get the win really, I drive into the Cavs boys it's not really about the milestones it's about getting the wins," he said.
"Milestones are good but it's a team game and that's what we're focusing on, but obviously 100's are always nice."
Despite CYMS being unbeaten throughout the season, Cavaliers were still putting the pressure on them for the minor-premiership, but ended up in second.
The end position didn't matter too much though with CYMS and Cavaliers to play each other in the major semi-final.
After winning the Royal Hotel Bonnor Cup grand final in recent weeks and finishing the BOIDC season in a dominant manner, Corben is happy with how his troops are travelling heading into the business end.
"We're definitely trending in the right direction, our top three have all got tons this year," he said.
"Harry Pearce comes back into the fold now finals are around and that's another big addition for us.
"Getting that Bonnor Cup win across the line (was good), it's been a while since we've got a title so getting that belief in the boys is pretty big for us. Getting this last win and pushing CYMS ... it's a pretty big effort from us to get into range of competing for that minor premiership."
Central West Wranglers bowler Pearce will be a huge in for Cavaliers in its finals series with the quick picking up an ankle injury during the second half of the season.
His replacement Steve Fairley has been phenomenal for Cavaliers, pushing up from second grade and taking 20 wickets at an average of 8 with Corben stating 'we would've been struggling for sure if Steve didn't come along'.
The Cavaliers selection panel will have a few headaches this week though with Josh Ward also impressing with the ball on day one, taking 5/14.
"They're definitely good headaches," Corben said.
"We'll have a look at the team line up come Wednesday at training, we've got people sticking their hands up everywhere which is always good to have."
The 2023 finals series will also present an opportunity for Cavaliers to avenge its grand final defeat to St Pat's last season and Corben added i'ts definitely motivating his side.
"It always hurts losing grand finals, I put to the boys not a whole lot of teams get to play in grand finals so that's a milestone in itself but definitely losing two grand finals last year put the wind out of our sails," he said.
"Getting that first Bonnor Cup one gave us the little taste we wanted so hopefully we can put on a show Saturday and Sunday this week and challenge CYMS - they've been outstanding this season so we're trying to play our best cricket."
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