Nelson in prep mode for Cup campaign
The Nelson Pine Griffins’ emphatic six-wicket one-day Newman Shield win over Marlborough on Sunday has signalled the immediate end of their limited overs involvement.
Now the emphasis switches to two-day mode as Nelson prepare for the zone three Hawke Cup elimination series, starting with a two-day warm up clash with Canterbury Country in Nelson on December 2-3 ahead of their official series opener against Canterbury Country in Rangiora on December 16-17.
Nelson’s record of three wins from their four one-day matches, including a third-place finish at the Chapple Cup tournament in Napier, is indicative of the team’s positive progress this season under new coach Ruan Louw.
‘‘I think that the way we’ve played in the four games so far, the one thing that has come through really well is just the team unity ... how the guys are performing for one another,’’ Louw said.
‘‘There seems to be a good emphasis by the players on taking a bit of responsibility. In cricket there’s ebbs and flows in the game and sometimes your openers go big and sometimes they don’t and
(Rikki Bovey 22, Probodha Arthavidu 57; Willem Ludick 2-9, Adam Leonard 2-34, Paddy Howes 2-23, Thomas Zohrab 2-10) lost to (Mason Thelin 47 no, Willem Ludick 55; Matt McCormick 3-21) by six wickets. it’s good to see that we’ve got different people stepping up at different times.
‘‘So leading into the two day stuff, we trained [yesterday morning] and just carried on with that emphasis on still looking to play our way and looking to play positive cricket, but with that emphasis of understanding where we are in the game, reading the situation and being able to adapt to what is in front of us.’’
Sunday’s win highlighted some impressive individual performances, notably captain Willem Ludick’s allround contribution in which he captured two wickets to help dismiss Marlborough for 133 before scoring 55 runs as Nelson easily achieved victory at 134-4 in the 25th over of their reply.
Opener Mason Thelin showed admirable patience and commitment to finish unbeaten on 47, while young left-arm spinner Paddy Howes took 2-23 in the crucial spin-bowling role as a successful replacement for the unavailable Felix Murray.
Louw has been enthused by Ludick’s astute leadership.
‘‘The whole season up till now, including the winter, it’s [been about] guys taking responsibility and I think with Willie we’ve got somebody that takes his game seriously, that takes being captain seriously and is proud of that and he knows that at the end of the day the responsibility for the performance lies with him and the way he manages the team.’’
While Louw was still hoping to have Murray and Central Stags batsman Greg Hay available for Nelson’s Hawke Cup campaign, he was nevertheless delighted with Howes’ efforts on Sunday.
‘‘He’s been in the UK so we’re trying to get him accustomed again to bowling on the wickets here and depending on availability and other things, he’ll bowl a lot of overs this summer.
‘‘We’re trying to get him to be a consistent longer form bowler, but that takes patience and maturity and time. All our spinners are very young ... but he acquitted himself very well to the task on Sunday.’’
The challenge now for Louw was about readjusting the players’ mindset to the longer format.
‘‘We’ve spoken at length now about our bowlers being able to bowl three spells in a day, so fitness comes into it - and that’s always a swear word to the bowlers.
‘‘But we need four seamers and a spinner at least or a bit of a mix of both that can give you 100 overs a day. And that’s not easy, so the bowlers have been working on that.
‘‘The batters are just batting time. It’s been quite fun exploring that because I’m quite an adven- turous person when it comes to batting. So it’s been quite fun in the one-day stuff, however now the batters have to bat time.
‘‘In our training now, we’ll have the top six batting for two to two and half hour sessions and just learning how to bat through sessions.
‘‘Not changing the way we bat or the way the players play, I want them to play their own way and with their own freedom and style, but just taking into consideration the match situation.
‘‘So making good decisions at key moments, I think that’s the adjustment now.’’