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ARMIDALE enters Sunday’s War Veterans Cup clash with Gunnedah at Armidale Sportsground close to full strength, although it will be missing left arm spinner Steve Butler.
The Armidale City allrounder is waiting for swelling to subside on a dislocated right elbow to find the full extent of an injury suffered when he slipped in the bathroom at his brother’s 21st party in Toowoomba last weekend.
“They’d had a heap of rain up there and the floor was slippery,” Butler told The Leader yesterday.
“It was like having roller skates on ice and I slipped backwards, falling on the point of my right elbow. They are not sure yet whether its broken or just dislocated. They are waiting for the swelling to go down. Hopefully it’s just a dislocation.”
The good thing is the injury is to his non-bowling arm but he’s been trying to hold a bat in some impromptu swings at work this week and found it pretty tough.
It will rule him out this weekend.
“The good thing is that I’ve probably done this at the right time. In the lead-up to Christmas. We have a couple of weeks off for the Christmas break so hopefully I can get it right for the finals of the WVC and club cricket. If I’d have done it in another eight weeks it would have been far worse,” he said.
“Plus I’m going over to play a season of cricket in England. I fly out the weekend after the local grand final.”
In the meantime he believes the Armidale side is looking good entering Sunday’s third round War
Veterans Cup clash with Gunnedah.
“We have a strong side,” he said.
“I don’t think Gunnedah would be a bit worried about not having me in the team. But we do have a strong batting side. There are a number of blokes there who could be batting way down the order but might bat at number four for their club sides.”
He said the inclusion of young Hillgrove allrounder Lochlan Elks was a positive sign.
“He’s a good young cricketer,” he said.
“Just one of the side who could come out and score a quick half century.”
Armidale selector Brad King said Butler’s injury lessens the variety in the bowling attack.
“We just don’t posses that bowler who can run through a side and take a bag of wickets,” he said.
“We have a good trio of pacemen (Karl Triebe, Sam Uphill and Henry Cupitt). Young Lockie has taken a couple of five-wicket hauls and Andrew Brownlie and Ben Welch bowl spin too. It’s an attack that restricts rather than bowls sides out.
“So that puts a bit of pressure on our batsmen to score runs.”
ARMIDALE: Ben Welch, Dean Moore, Michael Dawson, Matt Schaefer, Andrew Brownlie (capt), Brad Smith, Matt Preston, Lochlan Elks, Steve Butler, Karl Triebe, Sam Uphill, Henry Cupitt.