Otago Country is expecting a good batting surface for its Hawke Cup fixture against North Otago in Alexandra today.
Picking up wickets could be hard work during the two days, although Otago Country stalwart Fraser Wilson said the pitch was relatively new so there was an element of the unknown.
Otago Country coach Rhiane Smith could not be reached for comment but Wilson said Molyneux Park was "always pretty flat and is hard work to get wickets".
Former Otago player Sam Blakely is captaining Otago Country again and he will team up with the likes of Marcus Frost to make inroads into the North Otago batting line-up.
There is some experience at the top of the order in Taylor Cumberland and Cam Jackson, while Amrit Gossal has a reputation for hitting a lot of boundaries.
Two of Country’s three preseason games were rained off but North Otago had the same issue.
"We’ve had some great battles with North Otago in the last few seasons when it has gone right down to the wire," Wilson said.
"It just comes down to whoever has the guys in form and plays well on the day."
North Otago coach Stu Slack has been having some restless nights while mulling over his team selection.
"There’s a lot of competition which is good," Slack said.
"I’ve been losing some sleep at night just thinking about what we need to do, which is a good position to be in."
Today’s match is Slack’s first as head coach and he said he had been impressed by his players’ attitudes and work ethic at training.
"In this team we fight. We fight hard. We’ve got a never-give-up attitude. That’s what we’re about and that’s what we’re going to go down there to do."
North Otago has lost the services of Llew Johnson who has been called into the Otago side for its Super Smash game against the Northern Brave in Dunedin tomorrow.
Lachie Kingan will captain the side. He was a key part of North Otago’s Hawke Cup win in February.
North Otago made the most of what it could from its warm-up games.
The team played Dunedin Metropolitan earlier this month but had another couple of warm-up games ruined by weather.
Jeremiah Shields will make his 50th Hawke Cup match appearance, while Ben Kay will be on debut.
Hawke Cup
Alexandra, today
North Otago: Lachie Kingan (c), Tom Dempster, Stephan Grobler, Cameron Grubb, Blake James, Nicholas Johnston, Ben Kay, Jeremiah Shields, Thomas Shields, Jeremy Smith, Amal Ashok, Quinn Wardle.
Otago Country: Taylor Cumberland, Cam Jackson, Michael Goldstein, Sukhdev Sandhu, Mitch van Schaik, Charanjit Singh, Amrit Gossal, Jeremy Gray, Josh Shackleton, Marcus Frost, Sam Blakely, Quentin Care.
