Cricket: Will CD declare or not?

So what will it be for CD captain William Young today?

It's understandable when Central Districts Stags captain William Young uums and aahs before opting to keep his cards close to his chest going into day three of their first-class match in Auckland today.

Suffice it to say Young is delighted that the Devon Hotel-sponsored Stags occupied the batting crease like the Gaza Strip throughout yesterday and were to resume today with a 31-run lead after a mammoth innings of 6-404 at the Eden Park outer oval against the Mondiale Auckland Aces in their four-day Budget Rental Plunket Shield match.

"It was certainly a good team effort although one one seem to put their hand up to really make hay," said the rookie CD captain after top scoring with 85 runs to eclipse the hosts' first-innings total of 373 on day one.

Opener Grey Hay scored 45 and newbie Mitch Renwick added 71 in the second-wicket partnership to provide the platform for the middle order to launch in one-day cricket fashion.

He lauded the pair for taking the shine off the ball on both days and felt Renwick, coming off a pair from the last round, was capable of piling the runs in seasons to come.

No 6 Tom Bruce scored 80 runs while No 7 Dane Cleaver and No 8 Navin Patel were unbeaten on 61 and 18, respectively.

What Young was prepared to brainstorm in the media was the two options open to the Heinrich Malan-coached on what appeared to be a lush wicket but had since petered out on to a flat, bouncy strip that Aces spinner Tarun Nethula also exploited yesterday after Ajaz Patel's highway project on day one.

- 1. Should the Stags maintain their first-innings total with a mammoth innings and back themselves to shine the ball again later to skittle the Aces?

- 2. Or should he declare at some stage before midday and ask the Michael Bates-skippered Aces batsmen a few more questions?

Young, who likes to call day three "the moving day" wasn't prepared to answer that question last night.

"If you ask me tomorrow night I'd like to tell you that we're in a winning position," he said.

Six-wicket hauler Patel had asked his batsmen to deliver the entire day yesterday and the willow whackers stepped up big time.

The ball is back in Patel, George Worker and the seamers' court again to roll their sleeves up for another day at least.

It's also imperative that catches stick because Aces first-innings century maker Michael Guptill-Bunce was dropped around the 40-odd mark at deep square leg.

Scoreboard
From day 2 of the Auckland Aces v Central Districts Stags four-day Plunket Shield match at Eden Park outer oval yesterday:
Toss: CD, bowled.

Auckland Aces
First innings 373

Central Districts Stags
First innings
(54-1 overnight)
G Hay c&b T Nethula ...................................45
B Smith lbw M Quinn .....................................8
M Renwick lbw Nethula ...............................71
W Young c M Guptill-Bunce b Quinn ...........85
G Worker c J Raval b Nethula .......................12
T Bruce b Nethula ........................................80
D Cleaver not out ........................................61
N Patel not out ............................................18
Extras (7b, 8Lb, 9nb): ..................................24
Total (6 wkts, 108 overs): ..........................404
-
Fall: 1-17 (Smith, 2.6), 2-114 (Hay, 36.1), 3-151 (Renwick, 46.3), 4-209 (Worker, 66.6), 5-285 (Young, 86.3), 6-378 (Bruce, 102.4).
Bowling: M Quinn 18-5-60-2 (1nb), L Ferguson 19-2-51-0 (4nb), C de Grandhomme 9-0-34-0, D Grobbelaar 12-1-53-0, T Nethula 30-4-127-4 (1nb), M Bates 13-3-47-0 (1nb), S Hicks 5-1-10-0 (2nb), JA Raval 2-0-7-0.
Progress: CD lead by 31 runs.
12th men: Brett Randell (Aces), Bevan Small (Stags).