More new faces for rep cricket team
A revamped Marlborough senior cricket team will travel west on Sunday to challenge holders Nelson for the Newman Shield.
There are five players unavailable from the side which beat Wairarapa to win the Cave Cup in Napier two weeks back. Ben Wheeler is on duty with the Central Districts Stags, Josh Poole and Matt McCormick are unavailable, Nick Weaver is injured while Todd Watson, a loan player from Hawke’s Bay is not in contention.
Into the mix come allrounder Corey Bovey and top order batsman Tim Abrahams, who have both previously played for Marlborough. Also in the 14-man squad, which will be trimmed to 12, are wicketkeeper/batsmen Ma’ara Ave, who returns from injury, and Luke Frankland, along with the young Wairau duo of Matt Deaker and Alex Kennedy, plus Wairau Valley’s Heath Murphy.
While the final combination is not decided, it seems the pace bowling duties will be shared between Harry MacDonald, Tarin Mason, Sam Boyce and Ben Blackman while Kennedy, Rikki Bovey and Ave are options in the spin department.
With Marlborough’s leading scorers in Napier, Wheeler and Poole, absent on Sunday the batting onus will fall on skipper Landon Neal, Matthew Stretch, Ave, the Bovey brothers, Abrahams, who has shown strong club form, and Frankland. With a shortage of specialist batsmen, Marlborough will again rely heavily on the input of their allrounders.
The game begins at Saxton Oval at 11am and will be played on the same wicket that was used for the recent four-day Plunket Shield game, where 1082 runs were scored and only 12 wickets taken, so plenty of runs should be on offer.
However, given Marlborough’s record against their old foe in recent times, that is certainly not a given. Last year Marlborough managed just 138 and 116 in their two Newman Shield challenges, losing by six wickets in December and four wickets in March.
The Marlborough squad, from which the final 12 will be selected, is: Rikki Bovey, Luke Frankland, Landon Neal, Matthew Stretch, Ma’ara Ave, Tim Abrahams, Corey Bovey, Harry MacDonald, Ben Blackman, Sam Boyce, Tarin Mason, Alex Kennedy, Matt Deaker, Heath Murphy.
Nelson: Tom Cross, Adam Leonard, Thomas Zohrab, Mason Thelin, Joe O’Connor (captain), Nic Clark, Felix Murray, Dylan Eginton, Patrick Howes, Sam Baxendine, Abidine Sakande, Hayden Ingham.
Meanwhile, the third round of senior club cricket is scheduled tomorrow.
Leaders Wairau Valley take on Renwick at Oliver Park while Wairau and Celtic meet at Horton Park.
Celtic, still seeking their first win, know they must win on Saturday if they are to feature in the final. They will field a similar side to last week, although Matt McCormick is absent.
Wairau have named exactly the same side that beat Renwick but will need a better effort with the bat if they are to back it up.
Valley have made a couple of changes to their winning combination. Daniel Allan and Eddie Poswillo make way for Reuben Kepes and Heath Murphy.
Renwick give a senior debut to Hayden Gaudin and welcome back Grant McMillan, but will be without allrounder Sam Solly, due to injury.
Both games begin at 11.30am.