Bathurst batsman Josh Toole will play in Country Championships final for Western Zone

Toole will be part of the Western Zone side which hosts defending champions Newcastle at Wade Park on Sunday, both teams having gone through the qualifying rounds undefeated back in November.

The right-handed batsman is part of a star-studded Western team dominated by Dubbo players, taking on a team that itself is stacked with elite country cricketers.

He knows the size of the task in front of him and his team-mates.

“Newcastle are obviously a pretty strong side. They back themselves and have probably been the best team consistently for quite some time,” he said.

“They are pretty well-balanced and each individual knows their role quite well because they can train and play with each other every week.”

Toole’s dad Paul has been a prolific run-scorer in the Newcastle competition for years, but given the standard of the Newcastle team, who beat Illawarra in last year’s decider, it will take more than just some inside knowledge to get the better of them.

Western have been weakened by the absence of former captain Pat Rosser, his role to be filled by Dubbo’s Mitch Bower, one of seven players from the Dubbo side to make the squad.

Greg Buckley takes Rosser’s place in the 13.

Toole’s impact to date has been mixed. He made a quickfire 50 in their second match against Southern after not being required to bat in the opening round win over Riverina.

In game three he fell for one against Illawarra.

A season earlier he established himself as the ideal man to have coming in around six or seven in the order courtesy of a hard-hitting 59 against Illawarra and 29 against Southern, putting his aggressive approach to good use in the latter overs.

He expects to have that kind of job once more, while his electrifying fielding should also come in handy around the cover region.

“That’s pretty much my role – to try and come in after, hopefully, the top-order has given us a pretty good platform and then try to get stuck in at the back end of the innings,” Toole said.

“I’d like to think that if we are in trouble, I can help us get out of it as well, but ideally, given some of the quality we have in the top six, I’d love the opportunity to come in when we’re on top and help try to push home our advantage.

“I should find myself around seven to finish off the innings or see us home. I might find myself in some key fielding positions to try and cut down as many runs as possible and hopefully snag a run-out or grab a half-chance.”