Saturday's T20 Big Final could break one of the most frustrating droughts in Western Australian cricket history and Marcus North says the Perth Scorchers are determined to take advantage.
The Scorchers meet the Sydney Sixers in the KFC T20 Big Bash League's deciding match at the WACA Ground, with victory enough to break an eight-year dry spell.
The last domestic trophy for a WA side came in the 2003-04 One-Day Cup and the only appearance in a final since then was when the Warriors lost the Big Bash decider to Victoria in 2008.
But the new Twenty20 format has brought a dramatic change of fortunes, as Perth finished the regular season on top with a 5-2 record before beating the Stars in the semi-final.
Although many of the Scorchers team haven't been involved during WA cricket's lean years, North said those who had been part of it - including the likes of himself, Luke Ronchi, Brad Hogg and Ben Edmondson - saw the BBL decider as a chance to put the years of disappointment behind them.
"It certainly has been frustrating," the captain said.
"The guys who've been involved in that era of cricket are certainly motivated for tomorrow to do well for WA cricket."
"We're representing WA cricket and Perth so to have some success and win a title would certainly make the players very proud but also reward the faith and the support that we've had from the WA cricket public."
"No doubt playing in front of our home crowd is going to give us that extra motivation and atmosphere to perform well."
The Scorchers' hopes of victory were boosted on the eve of the match when North confirmed key paceman Nathan Rimmington was likely to play.
Rimmington, who broke a bone in his hand in the semi-final win over the Stars, has taken seven wickets with an economy rate of 7.19 for the tournament.
"Just looking at his hand today, the swelling has gone down a lot. We're all very confident that he'll pull up well for tomorrow," North said.
"He's been one of the underrated bowlers of the tournament."
North said the experience of fellow veterans Paul Collingwood, Simon Katich and Herschelle Gibbs had been a big part of Perth's success and would give them an edge in the final.
"We felt playing under intense pressure, experience normally comes out on top and I guess that's what we looked at building our squad," he said.
"The leadership with that experience from guys like Katich, Collingwood and Gibbs have had a very calming influence which is pretty important in Twenty20 cricket."