HE has been the undisputed star of Bathurst City's top order so far this season and one of the leading bats in the Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket competition as a whole, but Joey Coughlan will have to wait until next year to play again.
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Couglan, who also skippers the Redbacks, has scored 295 runs in the competition this season at an average of 59. It includes his best performance with the bat in more than nine years - a 130 against Rugby Union - as well as twin half centuries (77, 58) against Cavaliers.
But he was struck on the right thumb while at the crease and after attempting to play on through the pain, has now been forced to sit out until at least round six.
"My thumb is unfortunately worse than I had hoped," Coughlan revealed on the club's Facebook page.
"I knew it wasn't good considering it hurt to bat, and it showed with scores of two and five after injuring my right thumb.
"I've been cleared of any new fractures, however have broken that thumb before and now have done grade two damage to the ligaments around the knuckle.
"It means the rest of my year is over. However, I'll hopefully be back after the Christmas break, ready to play the back half of the season. I'm looking forward to watching some of the young guys take their chance over the next three weeks in my absence."
In his two innings since being struck on the thumb - against Cavaliers in the Twenty20 Bonnor Cup and last Saturday against CYMS - Coughlan only managed single figure scores.
Yet there is no doubting his absence will be a big blow for Redbacks, who will also miss his efforts with the ball.
Redbacks currently sit in fifth on the ladder and when play resumes on Saturday against Orange CYMS, will be fighting to avoid an outright defeat.
Last week Coughlan's side was dismissed for 131 in the space of 41.4 overs. In reply CYMS reached 4-123 before stumps. Opener Tom Belmonte, who has already hit a century this season, is unbeaten on 63.
"It's CYMS that hold the key to the match at the moment only being eight runs off our total with five wickets in hand, it's poised to be very interesting," Coughlan said.
"If I were in their shoes with only one win I would be declaring straight after passing the score, try to take a quick 10 wickets for around 100 runs and hopefully have enough time left in the day to give it a crack. However, it has been almost impossible to grab an outright on the larger, flatter fields this season so far, so I don't know if they feel like trying it out."
Still, Coughlan saw some positives last Saturday and will hope for more in his absence.
"We showed that we could bowl to a plan. We changed plans for a couple of different batsman and some plans didn't work, but we at least stuck to the plan, which was pleasing," he said.
"I feel as if Jacob Pepper did a good job with the ball bowling to a plan and with a bit more top grade experience and overs under his belt, he will become more consistent and an asset to this club's first grade squad for years to come.
"It was [also] good to get John Rudge back into the mix. His experience and demeanour are underestimated, and are key to our success on and off the pitch. I'm looking forward to having Rory Daburger back to add that youthful spark into the team."
