There’s been a little bit of everything for Bacchus Marsh in the opening four rounds of the Gisborne and District Cricket Association’s McIntyre Cup.
A first-up win against last year’s runners-up, Sunbury, was followed by a tied result against Romsey and then a loss to Woodend, leaving the Bulls with a 1-1-1 record.
For new coach Dennis O’Loughlin it’s been frustrating.
“We’ve been a bit all over the shop,” O’Loughlin said before the weekend’s match against Sunbury United.
“We should have been 3-0. We’re probably not batting as a team. We’re losing quick wickets and not forming partnerships.”
O’Loughlin said the results had put the Bulls a little behind the eight ball.
“We have set ourselves to win early games so we are lower than we expected to be,” he said.
“I think it’s important to win the early games as you don’t want to be chasing your tail later in the season.”
“We changed a few things at training and we’ll change a few more this week to find the right mix.
“We’ve been a pretty successful club the past 15 years. The job is for us to get back into finals.”
O’Loughlin said youngsters Tom Dickinson and Alex Porter had been impressive, batting at the right tempo and proving handy in the field.
The coach said his team was likely to get a few players back in the next few weeks and likely to be a better two-day side against Sunbury United.
On Saturday, the Bulls put in their best performance of the season with the bat, making 232.
Wicketkeeper Tim Hughes top-scored with 52.
The Bulls’ B-grade side has a fight on its hands in its bid for victory against Rupertswood.
Rupertswood recovered from an early collapse to finish at 8-233 off its overs.
Josh Lloyd was best of the bowlers for Bacchus Marsh, taking 3-59.
St Anthonys’ imposing start continued as it posted the highest total of the B-grade season so far, against Ashfield.
A middle-order partnership of 173 between captain Jamie Bolger and Jason Orr took the score from 5-93 to 5-263.
St Anthonys finished its innings at 9-302. Bolger was unbeaten on 119, while Orr made 70.
St Anthonys is undefeated after three rounds.
