Aaron Maxwell sat in the dug out as Ethan Bartlett blasted Wagga Sloggers to the Sydney Cricket Ground last month, but is looking to make an impact on his own come Sunday.
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Maxwell will line up for his first SCG experience as the Sloggers take on Orana Outlaws at the home of NSW cricket.
It is something he didn’t expect to achieve.
“I just thought I would be sitting in the grandstands watching so it will be a pretty good experience,” Maxwell said. “I am pretty excited.”
Maxwell has been in fine form with the willow, second behind Wagga City teammate Jon Nicoll in terms of runs scored this season.
He has scored 180 runs at 45.00 this season, trailling only Nicoll’s 275 at 132.50.
The 26-year-old is looking to use his one-day form to good effect in the shortest format of the game.
“The form has been alright so it will be good to get a few runs,” Maxwell said.
“(T20) I can be a lot more aggressive rather than sit back in the two-dayers so I’m looking forward to it.”
The Sloggers squad has cut to 13 with David Bolton not making the trip to Sydney.
It is expected Brayden Ambler will take his place in the team, with only one to miss out now as the Regional Bash competition allows for 12 players to be used.
Ambler is looking to make the most of his opportunity.
“It will be good, I am definitely looking forward it to," Ambler said. “It should be a good experience for me and all the Wagga boys.”
The 19-year-old is one of the youngest members of the side, and gets another chance in the team after being unavailable for the second of the Regional Bash matches this season.
Meanwhile, Outlaws coach Josh Ryan is bullish about his team’s chances on Sunday.
They made it through to the same stage last year before being knocked by eventual winners Border Bullets but are confident of a better result.
“We’ve got the best all-round side of the four teams left,” Ryan said.
“We’ve had the best bowling attack for the past two years when we’ve got everyone available and we’ve got some of the most destructive batsmen in the competition.
“If we put together two good performances in a row we should win but it’s all about turning up on the day.”
Wagga will have a training session in the SCG nets on Saturday before taking on the Outlaws at 10am on Sunday.
The final will be played at 6pm following the second of the semi-finals.
Captain Joel Robinson is hopeful they can take advantage of the longer break if they come through the first test.