‘Lots of sixes, lots of fours, lots of high-flying catches’: CPW Panthers prepare to set Bush Bash alight

By Daniel Webb

Dec 6, 2022

Captain fantastic: Cobram's Adam De Cicco will lead the CPW Panthers this season. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite

The Goulburn Valley Bush Bash League will return for another season this Sunday and the Cobram Panel Works Panthers have wasted no time in building an impressive squad.

Set to be captained by Cobram's Adam De Cicco, the Panthers will feature Victorian first class cricketer James Seymour along with the talents of Essendon teammates Oliver and Isaac Willett.

Franchise manager Mark Haberfield said it was a huge effort from the organisers to get the league back up and running again for the 2022-23 season.

“We (Cobram) are hoping to go one better than we have in the past and get into the final,” Haberfield said.

“We’ve got three premier cricketers coming up, James Seymour and the Willett brothers.

“They (the brothers) are local guys so to have them playing for the CPW Panthers is brilliant.

“For us it’s about the local guys and giving them a shot at playing some higher standard cricket and mixing it with these cricketers from Shepparton.”

Plying their trade alongside these big names will be local trio Tyron Baden, Damian Cupido and Kepler Lukies, while Barooga’s Riley Gow is expected to “clear the light towers of Deakin Reserve” after making the switch from the SRP Mud Dogs.

Another player to watch is fellow Barooga talent Will Sharp.

The opening quick is expected to take the new ball for the pink-and-black side.

“Across the board we’re just looking to set a reasonable total and then try and restrict it with the bowling so our batting will be our strength,” Haberfield said.

“We’re hoping to set reasonable targets that our bowlers can bowl to.”

Ready to go: Barooga product Riley Gow is expected to cause plenty of damage with the bat for the Panthers.

The Panthers will kick off their season on Sunday, December 11 at Deakin Reserve, with a 2pm clash against the Hurley’s Hotel Hounds pencilled in.

Round two action will hit Cobram around one month later, with the Panthers taking on the SRP Mud Dogs on January 15.

“That’ll be huge for us at the Cobram Showgrounds,” Haberfield said.

“We’re hoping to replicate what we did two seasons ago when we had over 450 people attend the game and create a bit of a carnival atmosphere.

“I think ‘big bombs’ is going to be the buzzword, lots of sixes, lots of fours, lots of high-flying catches and things like that.”

With plenty of ex-internationals set to strut their stuff in this year’s competition — including former Australian Test player James Pattinson — Haberfield was coy on whether the Panthers would welcome a big name into their line-up.

“We’ll see how we go, watch this space,” he said.

“Keep and eye on it, get out and support it, it’s a fantastic contest and a quality of cricket people need to come and watch.

“Once they do watch they’ll say ‘wow, this is really good for our region’.

“When we get to the Cobram round I think it will be really special here.”