Jesse Ryder returns to the Central Districts mix when they host the Wellington Firebirds in Napier in the Plunket Shield match today.
The former Black Cap allrounder was expected to arrive late last night after a stint in the Hong Kong Sixes for the four-day, first-class match at McLean Park so uncapped Taranaki bowler and 12th man from the previous round Ryan Watson drops out.
CD captain William Young will be playing on a park that was last prepared for the abandoned one-day Chappell-Hadlee match amid surface flooding.
With the shield gone, Young said the Stags would play for pride in the remaining matches but rued missing out on points against ND Knights in the historic rain-abandoned pink-ball affair in Hamilton last week.
"We were in a very good position in that game so it would have been very nice to push for a result but that wasn't the case," he said.