Lithgow will face a tough a challenge this Sunday at home when they take on Bathurst in round two of the Presidents Cup.
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The Bathurst District Cricket Association first XI is hunting for its eighth consecutive Presidents Cup crown while Lithgow has played in second tier Rod Hartas Trophy for more than a decade.
However, this summer Lithgow has decided to step back up to the top grade.
When the Mitchell Cricket Council staged its maiden first grade competition in season 1948-49, Bathurst was declared the joint winner with Lithgow.
Lithgow will go into Sunday’s contest as underdogs following an 87 run loss to Blue Mountains in round one.
On the flip side, Bathurst was lucky to beat Orange in its first outing.
Bathurst skipper Jameel Qureshi also knows that Lithgow must be respected, with a recent Royal Hotel Cup Twenty20 win sure to have given his rival a confidence boost.
“We are the favourites, absolutely, but in saying that, you’ve got to respect everyone that you play and if you don’t show that respect, cricket is a funny game and funny things can happen,” he said.
“They’ve come back into presidents cup this year. At the Bonnor Cup (Royal Hotel Cup) they played really well, they play well as a team and there are some handy cricketers in that side for sure.”