Derek de Boorder hopes his Otago team can send Craig Cumming into a happy retirement - and without a wooden spoon.
The Volts' misfiring Plunket Shield campaign comes to a close when they play Wellington in a four-day game starting at the University Oval today.
It is the final game for Cumming, the much-respected opening batsman who has confirmed this season is his last.
From the Otago team's perspective, it also offers a chance to climb off the bottom of the table.
To do that, the Volts (41 points) would need to beat Wellington and hope Canterbury (54) stumbles against Auckland.
"Everyone wants to finish the season on a little bit of a high," de Boorder said.
"A win would be nice, to show we have made an improvement over the last couple of games."
De Boorder acknowledged the imminent departure of Cumming provided extra motivation for the team to finish strongly.
"Craig's been a great servant to Otago cricket. He knows us all so well and has helped us all out.
"He's had a great career. He's the best Otago player of the modern game, probably. It would certainly be fitting to send him out with a good win."
The Volts have managed just one outright win from nine games this season.
They were desperately unlucky not to bank a second last week when their superb chase against Canterbury was controversially cut short by bad light.
"We were a little bit unlucky the way things finished," de Boorder said.
"But the umpires had set the precedent in the first day. We knew we'd be looking at a 6pm finish.
"We wouldn't have done anything different to what Canterbury did. We were just unlucky things didn't go our way."
Another source of individual motivation for Otago players this week could be the prospect of gaining, losing or upgrading provincial contracts.
Cumming's retirement opens a spot, and there must be doubt over whether axed former captain Aaron Redmond (157 runs at 14.27 this season) and Darren Broom (47 at 11.75) will be re-signed.
The success story of the season has been the un-contracted Hamish Rutherford. Since his selection, the left-handed opener has been a revelation with scores of 107, 118, 4, 39, 33 and 67.
Another rookie waiting for his chance is teenaged fast bowler Jacob Duffy, who replaces Broom in the squad for this game.
Wellington beat Otago by 286 runs when the sides met at the Basin Reserve in November.
At least one Otago player has happy memories of that game. Neil Wagner took seven for 96 in Wellington's first innings, and scored an unbeaten 66 with the bat.
The Firebirds (75 points) actually have a slim chance of winning the shield. They would need to beat Otago, and hope Central (71) thumps leader Northern (92) in Napier.
Wellington has made one change to the team that played in a rain-affected draw with Central at Karori Park, New Zealand's latest first-class venue.
Australian wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi has skipped back across the Tasman, although he is coming back permanently next summer, and is replaced by fast-medium bowler Masaesaili Tugaga.
