The annual Australia Day fixture between Mudgee and Gulgong has always been a highlight of the Mid-Western sports calendar but hasn’t had an official title until this year.
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When club officials and committee members put their heads together to find a name for the event, the decision was an easy one – The Cameron Cox Cup.
Mudgee has traditionally dominated the event, winning all but one clash in the last 15-odd years, with Gulgong getting on the board in 2017. Friday, however, was a familiar result for Mudgee as it cruised to a five-wicket win at Gulgong’s Victoria Park.
After winning the toss, the away side sent the hosts out to bat and held them to 118 runs after 43 overs.
This was largely due to massive efforts from Ben Reynolds (4/20) and Lance Hearn (3/31) as they took seven wickets between them and each bowled for eight overs.
Dion Hollow (25) and Stu Bromley (21) were the only Gulgong players to crack 20 runs as the home side struggled at the crease for the most part of the opening innings.
After lunch, Mudgee didn’t waste any time getting to work as T20 specialist Ben Reynolds (62) made half the required runs on his own, hitting seven boundaries from the third spot in the order, before being dismissed Lachlan Rayner (1/11).
Ryan Bannerman (27 not out) was patient with the bat in hand as he stood alongside Brad Golden (9 not out) as the winning runs were scored in over 32.
Mick Jarvis (0/9) was tough to get a hand on, while Ashley Honeysett (1/29) was business as usual through seven overs of work.
The Gulgong boys would probably tell you their bowling was good enough to get the result but they were let down by their first innings score of 118.
After the match, players and spectators turned their attention to the presentation of the Cameron Cox Cup where the team captains gave their speeches.
“We tried our best. We think about this game a fair bit,” said Gulgong skipper Jared Clulow.
“Everyone has a lot of commitments and everyone still makes the effort to play. We all appreciate that a lot.
“Mudgee was too good again.”
Andrew Best, who has been a staple of Mudgee cricket for a long time, talked about what the cup meant to him and his players.
“We wanted to win this a lot for our good mate, Cameron,” Best said.
“Gulgong and Mudgee both have a lot of young guys and they all did a good job out there today which is good for cricket in the area.”
Mudgee will hold the cup and the bragging rights for another 12 months before doing it all again in 2019.
As for now, Gulgong cricket is set to return on Saturday February 3 with Mudgee’s top tier to be played on Sunday February 4.