Bouncing back from a loss is crucial in all sport, and Wangaratta Magpies A grade cricketers will be out to prove they’re still a contender in one day WDCA cricket.

Following a tough away loss to Ovens Valley United, the ‘Pies return home for their first match at the Wangaratta Showgrounds this Saturday.

Despite having more wins than losses so far this season, some cracks have been exposed in the Magpies’ batting order, particularly in the middle order.

Skipper Cooper Matheson said more work was needed to knuckle down and build partnerships late in the innings.

“I think we bowled pretty well as a group [last weekend], but I think we were left a little bit vulnerable with the bat,” he said.

“Nanno [Tyler Nanson] ended up batting five, a few other boys had to change the order a bit, that left us a bit vulnerable, and late wickets killed it for us.

“Especially after five or six, we’re just giving away the wicket too easy.

“All we need to do is put on a couple of 30-run partnerships towards the end and you’re going to win the majority of your games, but we’re struggling to even do a 10-run partnership at this point.”

The Magpies don’t have an easy game ahead of them, playing host to a Yarrawonga Mulwala side who are building with every match and stacked with talent.

The Lakers bowling attack is spearheaded by Angus Heslin (eight wickets @ 10) and Devlin Webb (eight wickets @ 13), who sit third and fourth in the league’s wicket-taking charts, while Webb is second overall with the bat, with two half centuries in his 148 runs, averaging 74 from three innings.

It should be noted the season is only heading into round five this weekend, and the nature of averages means numbers tend to be on the higher end of the scale at this time of year, but regardless, those are some good numbers to have next to your name.

“They’ve got a very good team again this year, they do every year,” Matheson said of the Lakers.

“They’re coming off a good win against Beechy, so we’ll have our work cut out for us.

“I haven’t watched much of his [Webb’s] highlights but he’s been making a fair few runs, and he’s good with the ball too.

“They’ve still got Knighta [Matt Knight] and all of that in there too with the bat, and Angus Heslin’s a class bowler.

“We’ve got to face them off early, that’ll be mine and Nanno’s job to get through him, don’t let him get a wicket.”

With the season on the edge of moving into the shortest format on 22 November, banking early-seasons wins is vital for the backend of the year.

“It’s huge, you don’t want to lose too many pre-Christmas, so if we can win our next two, it’ll be massive for us, but we’ve got Yarra and Rovers, two big games,” Matheson said.

“Hopefully we don’t drop any, but at least if we drop one, we’re still there abouts.”