Bacchus Marsh fell to a familiar foe in the opening round of Gisborne and District Cricket Association’s McIntyre Cup.
The Bulls fell to Sunbury by 39 runs at Clarke Oval on Saturday.
PICTURE GALLERY: Bacchus Marsh v Sunbury
Sunbury has won its past three games against Bacchus Marsh after claiming both encounters last season.
But Bacchus Marsh coach Paul Baker is confident his side is a lot stronger than 12 months ago.
Speaking on the eve of his side’s round one clash, Baker was rapt to have added top- order batting duo Cam McKinley and Ben Robertson to the first XI.
“It’s been a good preseason,” he said. “Batting was probably our Achilles heel last year. When we were put under pressure, the batting would falter.
“I was quite keen to add more maturity to that side of our game. I’d like to think that our batting will go a lot deeper this year.”
There have also been changes to the leadership team at Bacchus Marsh, with Scott Wakefield stepping down as captain.
He’s been replaced by batsman Kieran Atkin, while Rhys Watson takes on the role of vice-captain.
This will be Atkin’s third season at Bacchus Marsh and he has been the club’s leading run scorer the past two years.
While Bacchus Marsh’s batsmen may have struggled at times last season, the bowlers brought their A-game on Saturday.
The Bulls were led by talented pace trio James Bailey, Mark Hooper and Watson.
“They are our three-prong attack and are all young, energetic and fit characters,” Baker said.
Baker said he’s expecting another strong season with the ball and is looking forward to an improved spin dynamic.
“We introduced an off-spinner into our game last year in Andrew Dickinson.
‘‘He had a few years off and I think he’s only going to get better. We’re really looking forward to seeing him with another year under his belt.”
Last season also marked a return to finals for Bacchus Marsh after finishing sixth in 2012-13.
With another finals push on the agenda, Baker is also hoping for improvement in other grades. Last season, the club’s D-grade side was the only other team to finish in
the top four.
“That’s been one of my big pushing points,’’ Baker said.
‘‘If we want to strengthen the top grade, we need to do that from underneath.”
