Hawke's Bay senior men's cricket coach Colin Schaw had every right to salute the depth available to him at the weekend.
Despite five changes to his Pay Excellence Hawke's Bay team which retained the Chapple Cup the previous weekend and the unavailability of four Central Districts players, former Black Caps seamer Doug Bracewell, Ajaz Patel, Blair Tickner and Brad Schmulian, Schaw's troops beat Hawke Cup holders Bay of Plenty in two T20 pre-season fixtures played at Fergusson Park in Tauranga on Saturday. A 50-over match which was to be played against Bay of Plenty yesterday was washed out without a ball being bowled.
"We just seemed to carry on from last weekend. The way we batted was pretty awesome," Schaw said.
While Bay of Plenty cricket supporters pointed out their team hadn't had as much cricket as the Hawke's Bay lads and the hosts weren't showing their visitors all of their artillery in case they meet in a Hawke Cup fixture later in the season, Schaw said it was still a strong Bay of Plenty team.
"Many of their players played against us in the Hawke Cup fixture last summer and Brett Hampton plays for the Northern Districts Knights. Those two wins will definitely give us confidence if we were to meet them again in a Hawke Cup clash later in the season," Schaw said referring to the symbol of New Zealand inter-districts supremacy.