Cricket: Rance seamingly sizzling but no cigar

SIZZLING SETH: Every time Seth Rance (left) takes the ball from his CD captain, William Young, he delivers and that's why he has been on the top for three seasons in a row. PHOTO/FILE

Seth Rance can be forgiven for feeling like the bloke who is in a crowded supermarket aisle but, every time he switches lanes to another, the one he was in earlier has cleared the cashier.

That's because Rance is watching his Central Districts teammates go through the revolving door of Black Caps selection and must wonder what else he can do to slip through to the other side.

"I'm in the queue but it's just a matter of when," says the affable right-arm seamer who is the top wicket-taker in the McDonald's Super Smash Twenty20 campaign.

In a cliched sporting realm, where emotive terms such as "unlucky", "heroes" and "stars" are thrown around like confetti, it is fair to say it sticks out on Rance like a ball and chain but, remarkably, it doesn't seem to weigh him down.

In cricketing utopia, Rance wouldn't have to put himself in a witness box to undergo a self cross-examination because this, he believes, is his third bountiful summer where his statistics speak a dialect that requires no interpretation.

"I've been top wicket-taker now for probably three seasons in a row.

"I always seem to go under the radar when it comes to selections but that just makes me more determined to do well," Rance says.

"All I've got to do is keep taking wickets and put numbers on the board and I seem to be doing that."

But utopia and the country's No 1 code in summer make odd bedfellows so, to go back to the supermarket analogy, Rance shouldn't switch aisles but rely on the checkout girl to speed up the process at her end.

"I'm really happy with how that's going personally and, obviously, it helps us win games and the grand final is a huge part for us players," says the 29-year-old from Wairarapa.

Rance is a key when he takes the new ball from captain William Young and closes CD's account for the season at the death against the Wellington Firebirds when the game begins at 4.10pm at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, today.

Becoming irrational about his non-selection just isn't the Rance way, although he's aware the national selectors had bracketed him among the unlucky ones.

"I understand that at times I'm not going to be looked at but all I've got to do is put a performance at each game because it's out of my hands.

"Luckily enough I've done well again and I'm top wicket-taker so, in my mind, I'm doing all I can to put my hand up for selection."

It's always been a childhood ambition to represent his country and that flame will keep burning as long as he can fuel that intensity.

You can't help but feel if Rance had picked up a bat more often a little earlier and worked on his drives, cut shots, sweeps and hook shots he would have made himself marketable.

Well, guess again - because the man used to be selected for the CD age-group teams as a top-order batsman.

"I used to bat at No 3 and wicket keep."

When he was 16, he turfed his wicketkeeping gloves and pads aside and started rolling his arm and, unfortunately, batting fell by the wayside.

He scratches his head to explain why he did that but suspects backyard cricket is to blame because that's where he discovered he could put a bit of venom into a delivery.

"It just took off from there and so I found myself opening the bowling and I had this knack of swinging the ball ... and I ended becoming an opening bowler who couldn't bat," he says with a hollow laugh.

But Rance doesn't fight his batting instincts because he knows intrinsic muscle memory should never be underestimated.

For the record, the tailender is no rabbit and has three first-class half centuries to his credit, averaging 21 in the red-ball format.

But in T20 he hasn't seen it at all this summer and, touch wood, won't today in the collective's interest.

"I can definitely bat but others tend to get pushed up higher in the order than me but I put the best interests of the team first, so that's fine."

If anyone had asked him a fortnight ago if the Firebirds were going to be facing them today, he would have laughed them off the park.

"I don't think we'll show them too much respect but we want to play hard cricket and back ourselves to beat them on the day."

In hindsight, he thinks losing preliminary finalists Canterbury Kings were a stronger side so CD are thankful to host Wellington today.

Rance has worked in tandem with numerous new-ball pairings including Brisbane Heat import Luke Feldman, who's not returning after picking up a side strain.

"It'll be brilliant but, if he doesn't, we've had different options with spin bowling and Ryan McCone who's a little bit slow."

If CD take early wickets then the top six batsmen, who include world-class campaigners, should reign.

The $80,000 winners' purse will be a nice bonus but not something the Stags have talked about.

"If we start getting ahead of ourselves then that's when we'll start getting into trouble."

The weather is fine and they are expecting a bumper crowd, including a busload or two from Wairarapa.

"It should be the best crowd we've had all [season]," says Rance.

With all the traffic between CD, Wellington and the Black Caps, the only certainty is George Worker will be back and Jesse Ryder is playing, according to CD coach Heinrich Malan.

Spinner Ajaz Patel and seamer Navin Patel have joined the squad of 12 with Ben Smith likely to come in as the seventh batsman and one of the Patels carrying the drinks.

CD STAGS: George Worker, Mahela Jayawardene, Jesse Ryder, William Young (c), Dane Cleaver (wk), Joshua Clarkson, Ben Smith, Marty Kain, Ryan McCone, Seth Rance, Blair Tickner, Ajaz Patel, Navin Patel.