Old Boys may have again swatted away a young Bective East side who are slowly starting to believe in themselves, but the reigning four-time premiers are nowhere near the finished product. So says in-form Old Boys allrounder Jack Richards.
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In a one-dayer at Chaffey Park on Saturday, Old Boys deftly handled Bective, who were coming off a commanding win over North Tamworth.
Put into bat, Bective finished on 8-148 off 40 overs.
Old Boys chased down the total in 23 overs for the loss of two wickets. It was their seventh win of the season, against two losses.
South Tamworth have a case to argue otherwise, given their two wins over Old Boys this season, but the titleholders again look a cut above the opposition.
However Richards, the top-scorer with 52 not out on Saturday, believes that Old Boys have much to improve based on their form at the same stage last season.
While he praised the side for “bowling well as a unit”, he expects to see improvement in fielding and batting.
He said: “Our fielding is nowhere near where it needs to be … [And] with our batting the last couple of weeks, people have been getting starts and getting out.
“Someone in our top four or five needs to start getting a big score each week and stamp their authority on the game. Here we’ve been letting ourselves down a bit this season.”
Bective East had a good start on Saturday, reaching 58 before losing their first wicket when left-arm swing bowler James Austin knocked over Toby Whale’s stumps for 22.
When Amit Kumar removed Whale’s opening partner, Nick Pearson (25) with the score still on 58, and then No.3 Coby Cornish was run out for for a duck, Old Boys gained an ascendancy they never relinquished.
Old Boys’ best with the ball were Aaron Hazlewood (2-20 off eight overs), Richards (2-25 off eight overs) and Kumar (2-39 off eight overs).
AJ Pretorius (38 not out) top-scored for Bective.
Old Boys will play West Tamworth in the one-day final after Wests beat Souths on Saturday to claim second spot on the one-day ladder.