City United skipper Brad Smith has spoken about the dramatic “cultural shift” at the club, which has seen the side emerge from the arid landscape of the past two seasons to enjoy the fertile pastures of winning cricket.
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City United leapfrogged Norths into fourth spot after an eight-run defeat of the Redbacks at Riverside 2 on Saturday.
With one regular-season round remaining, Tamworth cricket boss Ben Middlebrook said that if Norths beat Souths in the final round and Old Boys beat City, then either Souths or City would finish in fourth sport. That, he said, would be determined by the bonus points Souths and City secured in the final round.
But he said that if Souths won, City would finish fourth regardless of how they fared against Old Boys.
What happens to City from now will not deter from a stirring reversal of fortune. When they beat Bective East in the first round it was their first win since the opening round of the 2015-16 season.
Smith was “absolutely chuffed” to beat Norths after City defended 188 by dismissing the Redbacks for 180 in the 71st over. He praised the performance of opening bowlers Tait Jordan, who claimed 5-51 off 17.3 overs, and Jack McVey (3-36 off nine overs).
He said: “We've worked really hard. We’ve found a way to win instead of finding ways to lose. We lost two or three games earlier in the season by less than 15 runs and now we’re starting to win those games, and that's going to be the difference come finals time.”
He added: “I think [former City skipper] Peter Mead’s got a lot to do with the [cultural] shift . The boys get up for each other, they play for each other. The last few years they just didn’t seem to be the same culture [as now]. A few new faces and the boys are just gelling really well as a team.”