Jensen joins bowling attack

"I'll be pretty keen to get stuck in." Manawatu¯ debutant bowler Carlos Jensen

New man Carlos Jensen will beef up the Manawatu¯ bowling attack for their next Furlong Cup match.

Manawatu¯ play Wairarapa in Masterton this weekend in their Hawke Cup qualifying match and Manawatu¯ are seeking an outright win, so they have gone with six bowlers.

That means Jensen will debut in what is a strong bowling attack along with Navin Patel, Tim Richards, Ray Toole, Dane Watson and Thomas Kuggeleijn.

‘‘I’ll be pretty keen to get stuck in,’’ Jensen said. ‘‘It was good to get invited to come along and get to show what I can do and perform.’’

Seam bowler Jensen is now one of the senior hands in the Palmerston team, but didn’t take the same route as many of the others into the rep side.

A 25-year-old electrician, Jensen was in the fourth XI at Palmerston North Boys’ High School, before playing for Bloomfield in the premier three grade, then he was recruited by now Palmerston captain Mike Meyer four years ago.

Patel, who is back from Central Districts duty, and Toole, who took six wickets in the first innings against Wanganui last week, are likely to share the new ball, but Jensen said he was keen to get over to Masterton and take some wickets.

Also returning from CD duty is batsman Mitch Renwick, who will back the captaincy from Richards.

Renwick will also take the wicketkeeping gloves because regular keeper Whetu Na Nagara is likely to have surgery on a dislocated finger in December.

Renwick has kept in a rep game against Wanganui before and is an experienced keeper at club level.

Gone from last week are CD bowler Bevan Small, wicketkeeper batsman Brynn Cleaver and seamer Jack Gleeson.

There are six batsmen in the team and there should be enough runs between them too. Mason Hughes will open with Henry

Collier, then there is an experienced middle order of Renwick, Dave Meiring, Logan Mchardy and Scott Davidson.

Manawatu¯ want an outright win, having had first-innings wins over Wanganui and Horowhenua Ka¯ piti.

Coach Mike Mason believes they haven’t produced an all-round performance yet and was hoping for one this weekend.

‘‘The point is we haven’t got outrights in the first two games. We have to go for an outright if we want to be in the running.

Manawatu¯ are still to play Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay after Christmas, with one of those three likely to finish top and earn a challenge.

Wairarapa have been boosted by CD paceman Seth Rance, who is coming back from a shin injury. Rance is on limited bowling load, but is still a quality bowler and handy batsman at this level.