![Chris Hartshorn has been the central figure in Barnawartha Chiltern's resurgence. Chris Hartshorn has been the central figure in Barnawartha Chiltern's resurgence.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/andrew.moir/c6d338a5-a97c-40c5-a566-dd7b37c69afd.jpg/r0_0_5311_3541_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Barnawartha Chiltern coach Luke Brookes says the club wouldn't be alive without president and player Chris Hartshorn, ahead of Cricket Albury-Wodonga's district grand final against Yackandandah on Saturday, March, 18.
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The Miners will start underdogs against Yackandandah, which is striving for a third straight premiership in its sixth successive decider.
"There's no way known the club would exist without Chris Hartshorn," coach Luke Brookes remarked.
Brookes stepped into the role during the season, but he's been privy to the 40-year-old's effort to keep the club alive after it folded for the 2017-18 season, just days out from the competition start.
"He's everything, he probably hasn't had his best season individually, but to come out on the weekend and get a few runs and wickets to help us get into a grand final was great," Brookes offered.
"He was pretty emotional after the game himself, I think it hit him just how big it was."
The Miners had just the one year out of the competition, with Hartshorn spending the season at Howlong.
But he's been in the Indigo Valley for many years now and was quickly back, where he's served as the coach, captain, curator and is currently the co-president.
"The club means a lot and I just want to give something back to the community, the community was really good when we moved back," he suggested.
"It's hard to put into words what it means to make the grand final and to get this far is obviously unbelievable.
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"It feels like there's unfinished business, you play a role in helping the club rebuild from the ground up, this would be the finishing touch."
It feels like there's unfinished business, you play a role in helping the club rebuild from the ground up.
- Barnawartha Chiltern's co-president Chris Hartshorn on the revival
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