BOIDC season 2022/23 preview: Centennials Bulls in the spotlight

From new signings to the always-popular ladder predications, how this season will play out is anybody's guess.

But with the league reverting back to a combination of two-day and one-day games, there is one certainty, which is that we are in for a cracking year of cricket.

Part one of the huge season preview featured Orange CYMS and up next is last season's wooden-spooners, Bathurst's Centennials Bulls.

The Bulls didn't have much to write home about in 2021/22, bagging just the two victories, coming over CYMS and Bathurst City.

This year's side will once again be skippered by Kyle Aubin, who took over from Kurt Toole last season.

While the team didn't enjoy the success many would have been hoping for, the same can't be said for Aubin, who not only led the league in runs (460), but also took home player of the year honours as well.

Can his individual form translate to team success in 2022/23? We'll just have to wait and find out.

So what have Bulls done in the off-season to try and make sure they don't finish bottom of the ladder in consecutive season?

Well according to Aubin, they have brought back much of the same team as last season, with three notable inclusions being Joel Gurney, Ryan Gurney and Zane Newham.

Although Joel Gurney did not feature for any side last season, he boasts an impressive track record which includes many a representative honour - including a stint with the Central West Wranglers in 2018, as well as multiple years plying his trade for Hawksbury's second and third grade sides in NSW Premier Cricket.

Most recently, Joel was suiting up for Lithgow Valley Cricket Club in 2020/21 alongside his brother where he averaged 25 with the bat and Ryan put together an average of 35. The season prior to that however and the brothers were lacing them up for Bulls in the BOIDC, so they won't be too out of place on their return to the club.

Newham is less of a new signing and more of a welcome back. As a 15-year-old, the bowler finished with figures of 4-13 in his Bulls debut last season, but injury meant he was limited to just four matches across all competitions. Aubin is excited to welcome back the youngster.

"Teams goals for the year are probably to be realistic and just be as competitive as we can each game an hopefully improve as the season goes on," Aubin said.

"In regards to a team to watch... it's a good question. I haven't heard much about who is going where or any big moves so if it stays that way, it could potentially be interesting to see how ORC go being a young team in the comp last year with an extra year of experience under their belt."

As for a rough idea of how the Bulls will shape throughout the season, Aubin highlighted 13 players likely to be in the mix.

Those are: Kyle Aubin, Kurt Toole, Joel Gurney, Tyler Horton, Peter McCleary, Michael Hutchinson, Calvin Windus, Zane Newham, Ryan Gurney, Lachlan Martin, Andy Chie, Sikandar Ahmed and Blaine Dawes.

So with all of this in mind, we are predicting Bulls to better their finish from last year and end the regular season in ninth place.

With largely the same contingent, it will be hard for Centennials to secure many wins, especially with the return of the two-day format. One thing we will be keeping an eye out for is the development of Newham, who could be their ticket to success in years to come.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: