Seniors season wrap: Hat-trick of club championships but premierships elusive

(From left) Ben Churchland, John Mulhall, Tom Belmonte, Rory Daburger and Beau Cox with the McCarthy Cup, awarded to Orange CYMS Cricket Club again in 2024/25.

Consistency across the four senior Orange District Cricket Association grades earned Orange CYMS Cricket Club the McCarthy Cup, the trophy awarded to the season's best performing club over the course of the regular season.

The 2024/25 club championship was secured via First Grade finishing fourth, Second Grade minor premiers, CYMS Lions second in Third Grade, and CYMS Gold third in Centenary Cup.

This is the third season in a row the club has won this trophy, and the 20th time in total since it was first introduced in the 1956/57 season.

In addition to the strong performances of the above four teams, the club's two other Saturday afternoon cricket teams - Third Grade and Centenary Cup Green - also qualified for finals.

Meanwhile the club's Bonnor Cup team came within a game of claiming the region's premier T20 title, their undefeated run through the Friday night pool games and semi-final ultimately ending in the final against Bathurst St Pat's.

Orange CYMS Cricket Club President Ben McNiven declared that winning the McCarthy Cup was the club's primary goal prior to the start of the season.

"The club championship is the best indicator of a club's depth and strength across the senior grades, so to win it again indicates that we are in a great position," McNiven said.

"Coupled with our Bonnor Cup team's run to the final of that competition it's fair to say that the club is one of the strongest in the region.

"These results are a credit to our players and the hard work they put in across the course of the season."

One major change this season was the inclusion of the CYMS Lions team in the Third Grade competition.

Led by four returning players - Shehan Fernando, Uditha Lokuge, Sajith Rajapaksha and Ash Wickramanayaka - the team was primarily comprised of Sri Lankan-born members, most of whom were new to competitive cricket in Orange.

Supported by a small army of family and members of Orange's Sri Lankan community, the team has an outstanding debut season, making the grand final.

Orange CYMS Lions were a new team to the club and ODCA Third Grade competition in the 2024/25 season.

There were some outstanding individual performers in CYMS teams across the ODCA grades:

• John Mulhall, 497 runs in ODCA Second Grade, most runs in competition

• Sean Donato, 346 runs in in ODCA Second Grade, second most runs in competition

• Riley Krause, 27 wickets in ODCA Second Grade, most wickets in competition

• George Eleftheriou, 21 wickets in ODCA Third Grade, second most wickets in competition

• Sachiru Wijerathna, 18 wickets in ODCA Third Grade, fourth most wickets in competition

• Ben Churchland, 286 runs in ODCA Centenary Cup, most runs in competition

• Isaac Churchland, 17 wickets in ODCA Centenary Cup, second most wickets in competition

• Wil Kennedy, 15 wickets in ODCA Centenary Cup, fourth most wickets in competition

These players and their teams were very well lead by Tom Belmonte and Rory Daburger (First Grade), John Mulhall and Riley Krause (Second Grade), Mick Curran and Al Dhatt (Third Grade), Shehan Fernando and Uditha Lokuge (CYMS Lions), Steve Wotton and Shaun Templar (Centenary Cup Green) and Beau Cox and Ben Churchland (Centenary Cup Gold).

McNiven thanked these captains and vice-captains for their leadership over the course of the season.

"We have been very lucky in recent seasons to have a wonderful group of team leaders, and this season was no exception," he said.

"Most of these captains and vice-captains had returned from previous seasons, and that experience was invaluable in helping to keep the teams on track and winning, ultimately leading to the club championship title."

While it was an outstanding result to have all seven seniors teams play finals, it was disappointing not to claim any of titles across the four grades and Bonnor Cup competition.

Centenary Cup Green and First Grade were both eliminated from their title races in the first week of finals, while Third Grade and Centenary Cup Gold were knocked out in the preliminary finals.

CYMS Lions and Second Grade both qualified for their grand finals bit were ultimately outplayed by their Orange City opponents.