Ross County are hoping to score a hat-trick of cup success
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Ross County Cricket Club begin both the north cricket season and their defence of the Senior Cup this weekend as they look to make it a hat-trick of triumphs.
The Castle Leod side won both the Senior Cup and the T20 Cup in 2021, holding on to the longer format’s title last year with a six-wicket win over league champions Northern Counties.
Tomorrow’s opening round match, then, could have some spice to it as Counties come to Strathpeffer out for revenge, but batter Chris Blake is optimistic that the silverware will remain with Ross County for another year.
“We’re looking to win the cup for the third year in-a-row,” he said.
“To be honest, we would have preferred a softer start, but if we’re going to win the cup we would have to beat these teams at some point.
“Northern Counties will be right up for revenge. We’ve been practising hard and we’ll give it our best.
“We’ve always maintained that we’re competitive in the league, and we can beat any club on our day, but in recent seasons we’ve lost games we shouldn’t be losing. That has curtailed our challenge before it even starts.
“We like playing in the cup, it suits our style of play, so there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t make it three in-a-row.”
Like most teams in the North of Scotland Cricket Association, poor weather has meant no pre-season friendlies for Ross County, and even very few outdoor training sessions.
That could make for an unpredictable start to the campaign, with Blake adding: “The weather has been atrocious. It’s been a struggle – even if we had arranged games, I don’t think they would have gone ahead.
“Everyone is going to be coming in a bit cold, and it just depends on who performs on the day I guess.
“This year it’s really competitive. Any team can beat any other team, so we’ll see what happens. There might be a few surprises this year.”
