Six big losses but also six openings
A DIFFERENT team, but an excited one.
There are plenty of Otago Sparks looking forward to returning to the field in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield.
They play oneday matches against the Canterbury Magicians in Rangiora today and tomorrow.
The competition resumes after the break for the Super Smash, Otago having yielded five losses and an abandonment from its six matches so far.
It will be without the bulk of the key players that took it to the Super Smash elimination final though.
Suzie Bates, Katey Martin and Hayley Jensen are all away with the White Ferns.
Australians AmandaJade Wellington and Hannah Darlington have both left, while Millie Cowan is now unavailable too.
Those are six big losses.
But it also creates openings for six other players.
Those are six players coach Nathan King dubbed ‘‘very excited’’ after sitting out much of the past six weeks.
However, King knows it is important to remember the differences this weekend from the past six weeks.
‘‘I think it’s completely different, to be honest,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s a different format, we’ve got six different players.
‘‘There’s a lot of changes, but I’m certainly hoping some of the things we did in that T20 campaign can be transferred over to the oneday game.
‘‘But just understanding you’ve got six new players who weren’t around, so it’s trying to upskill them as well.’’
Despite that, several of the side’s talented youngsters gained plenty of experience playing alongside the stars in the twenty20 lineup.
King is hoping they will return to the oneday set up as better players.
Not only that, he hopes they will be able to help the returning players grow.
‘‘I think having the opportunity to play alongside some of those more experienced players has been really valuable for those young girls.
‘‘There’s things I can’t teach them, the things they learn from those girls, particularly on the field.
‘‘So hopefully they’re better players because of that and the other girls in the squad see that as well and can learn from them as well.’’
King was hoping for a competitive match against Canterbury.
It notched two wins in the first half of the season, but was a rebuilding team much like the Sparks.
Today’s match begins at 10.30am, while tomorrow’s starts at 10am.