Towards the end of the T20 competition, it looked as though Bective East had begun to gather some real momentum.
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After starting the competition with a loss and a bye, Bective then produced a nailbiting win over North Tamworth and followed it up with a much more comprehensive victory over Old Boys.
At the time, captain Jye Paterson told the Leader that "the confidence is very high in the group".
And despite losing the T20 final against Souths, Paterson does not believe that feeling has changed ahead of their return to the two-day format against Old Boys at No. 1 Oval today.
But he acknowledged the critical importance of setting the tone early.
"The first hour is probably going to be the big one with bat or ball," Paterson said.
"Just trying to get off to a good, confident start and trying to get everyone into a bit of cricket again."
Bective sat out the most recent round of games with a bye, meaning they have had two weeks without any competitive cricket as a team.
Given the calibre of players in their lineup, however, Paterson believes it will not take long to find their rhythm again. But they will not underestimate Old Boys who, despite sitting at the bottom of the ladder, have struck form in recent weeks and secured a razor-thin win over the Redbacks last weekend.
"They've probably been one of the unlucky sides, and caught people on their good day throughout the season," Paterson said.
"They've definitely got the side to be able to [win], they have some quality players. So anyone this year has got a chance on their day to pull off a win."
Fortunately, Bective will have a largely full-strength side today, and expect that to be the case for the remainder of the competition.
This is critical, Paterson said, as effectively any team could qualify for the two-day finals depending on the results of the final two rounds.
"We're third, so the two teams above us have a bye [coming up], so everyone's in with a chance," he said.
"Every game is pretty do-or-die now, we want to win our last two games going into finals because then we guarantee ourselves. If we only win one out of two, then we rely a bit on luck and other games to go our way."
