Which Sam will hold aloft premier cricket’s trophy?
A captain named Sam will hold aloft the Southland premier club cricket trophy today, after the final between Invercargill Old Boys and Appleby.
Which Sam it will be, is the question.
Defending champions Appleby are led by Southland Hawke Cup player Sam Downing, while all-rounder Sam McLaughlin has taken over the reins this season at Invercargill Old Boys.
Both are proven match winners with bat and ball and today’s contest could come down to the toss, a call the captain’s make, or how they perform on the day.
The teams have been fairly even to date this season. Old Boys won the two Twenty20 matches including the thrilling final, while Appleby won the 40-over clash before Christmas with the two 50-over clashes after Christmas rained out.
McLaughlin said it’s been a fairly frustrating season to date.
“It will be good to play some cricket. It’s been pretty frustrating. Boys are ready to go, we’ve trained pretty well and just looking to keep the morale up and hope for some blue skies this weekend.”
Downing had similar views.
“I think it’s been about a month since we last played any cricket. We are definitely looking forward to it. Finals is why we play cricket. Even though we haven’t played for a while, we’re ready.
“The first goal for us is achieved but we can’t think too far ahead. You don’t take it home just by turning up on Saturday.
“We’ve got quite a good rivalry going Appleby and Old Boys and I know for us that T20 loss hurt a bit, so definitely looking to write a few wrongs.”
The two sides have been the standout teams all season and are fitting of their spots in the final – Appleby won eight pool games, Old Boys seven with just one loss.
“We’ve had pretty tight contests this season. It’s a shame we didn’t play the full complement of games and we know it will be a tight battle in the weekend. We will go out there and try get it done,” McLaughlin said.
This season’s competition was contested by just five teams and it made for a different competition.
“It’s been hard. Losing a team definitely hasn’t helped. The byes are romantically ideal but when you get a bye around a few rained off games it makes things pretty tough. Keeping momentum has been quite hard this season. It’s Southland and we have to deal with that occasionally,” McLaughlin said.
There’s a reserve day set aside for tomorrow, should Invercargill’s weather impact the final.
Little cricket has been played this side of Christmas with several rained out matches, a default, a bye and automatic qualification for the final meaning the decider will be Appleby’s first game in five weeks.
Both teams are full of game breakers and it could come down to a spell with the ball or a disciplined knock with the bat to decide the winner. Today’s wicket will provide assistance for the bowlers, but be a good batting track if batsman get themselves in.
The match gets under way at Queens Park at 11am.