HAWKESBURY Cricket Club opening batsman Brent Atherton will need to have a huge innings if the club is to defeat Bankstown's first grade this weekend.
The Hawks are playing a two-day match and Bankstown batsman Kerrod White had a massive unbeaten double ton on the first day of it.
Bankstown declared on 3-376 and claimed two Hawkesbury wickets before the close of play last weekend.
Hawkesbury cricket manager Aaron Lewis said it would be a tough chase, but felt so long as Atherton was at the crease, the Hawks were in with a chance.
"We've got a strong middle order and we'll need some good contributions from them," he said.
"Shane Mott at 8 or 9 can bat and even our number 10 can hit the ball hard if things are tight toward the end there.
"But I'd be looking at Brent Atherton. He is young and 19 in his first season in the top grade and we'll look to him to lead the way."
Lewis said it was a perfect pitch for batting on at Owen Earle Oval at the weekend, and hoped on Saturday, it was relatively the same.
"The pitch was a good batting pitch in the sense it was slow and flat," he said.
"It made it easy to get on the front foot and play and anything that was too short was easy to put away.
"Losing two wickets last week wasn't the best way to start but if the guys knuckle down and show the right mental aptitude and beleive in themselves the total can be chased."
The Hawks will resume on Saturday, October 17, on 2-35, with Atherton on 20 and night-watchman Pat Lawrence on 10.
On Sunday, October 18, the Hawks will play two Twenty20 matches against Campletown and Northern Districts.
Lewis said with the finals rapidly approaching, the Hawks would need to put a big score up in one of the matches to improve their ratio.
"I think Campbletown are undefeated and Northern Districts are sitting just above us so we need to win both games to have a chance of making the finals," he said.
"We'll need to win one well to get our run rate up and get the quota right, we'll want to maximise our chance by getting the best run rate we can."