Bats get time to atone in Mackay
CRICKET Far North captain Mick Salerno hopes the 50over format gives his players the time to shine in Mackay this weekend.
The representative squad kicks off its three-day campaign day against hosts Mackay Whitsunday and boasts three new players from the Fusion side that struggled in the Twenty20 format two weeks ago. Justin Reid, Rhys Camilleri and Jordan Fulton come into the side for Dan Parnell, Brenton Edwards and Tom Boorman.
“It’s still a strong squad and one that should be good enough if we play well,” Salerno said.
“The 50-over format gives guys a bit more opportunity to get themselves in and have more time at the crease.”
Tom Lever will be given a second chance at the top of the order after struggling for runs in the Bulls Masters T20 Country Challenge.
“He’s a guy we can bat around a bit,” Salerno said. “I think Tom is going to be far better suited to the longer format. There’s not as much pressure to score from ball one.”
Lever will likely open the batting with Paul Nasser today and the batting order for the weekend’s matches will be determined by form.
“At this stage those two will open up and then we’ll have Rhys Camilleri at three,” Salerno said.
“Then we’ve got (Chris) Stanger and (Jake) Roach who can come in and play shots.
That means Reid is likely to bat six, followed by wicketkeeper Angus Warnock and Norths teammate Dan Freebody, highlighting the region’s batting depth.
“All sides we play will bat pretty deep,” the skipper said.
Salerno said he was looking to resist the temptation to bat Warnock higher up the order.
“It’s an intense weekend with three matches in three days and we can’t cook our wicketkeeper,” he said.
“Gus bats in the top order for Norths so we know he can play there.”
Wade Matthews and Blake Raper will likely take the new ball. “Those guys can swing it a bit early and we want to take early wickets,” Salerno said.
“We are playing in whites so I’m certainly we'll be playing with a red ball and that means it should do a bit more early.”