Trio to debut for Hawke's Bay in Furlong Cup this weekend

Hawke's Bay captain Angus Schaw at the crease against Whanganui last season. Photo / Whanganui Chronicle

Hawke's Bay have named three debutants among the 12 cricketers who will take on Whanganui at Nelson Park in Napier in the second round of the Furlong Cup this weekend.

The Central Districts Stags have called on multiple Bay players for their Ford Trophy one-dayers against Wellington in Palmerston North on Sunday and Tuesday, so opportunity has come knocking for the 886th, 887th and 888th men to represent Hawke's Bay: Liam McCarthy, Fred Mowat, and Kurtis Weeks.

Pay Excellence Hawke's Bay head coach Dave Castle said McCarthy has played a bit of representative cricket with Central Districts Under-19s and has been in the Hawke's Bay programme for a while.

"I think he's bowled the most overs in the club competition for a seamer, and going really well," Castle said.

Wicketkeeper Kurtis Weeks captained the Hawke's Bay Under-17s before and has also been in Central Districts representative programmes.

"With Bayley Wiggins moving up to the Stags, we decided we'd pick a specialist wicketkeeper with Kurtis, who's a very tidy gloveman," Castle said.

Seamer Fred Mowat comes in as well, someone Castle said has been playing really good club cricket for Central Hawke's Bay.

A couple of senior players have come back into the side also in the form of opening batsmen James Smith and number four Graeme Tryon.

Castle said all the changes have helped the team bounce back from the disappointed of a Chapple Cup final loss against Nelson a fortnight ago.

"It's a group that doesn't have any sort-of holdover from that loss, which is quite nice," he said.

Castle said he is expecting to see a young side from Whanganui, but it is hard to know what they'll bring to table after their Furlong Cup round one match was washed out.

"We're not really focusing on that, we're focused on putting our skills out on the park," he said.

Hawke's Bay team to play Wanganui at Nelson Park, Napier in Furlong Cup Round 2, December 5-6:

Angus Schaw (captain) - Central HB, William Clark - Havelock North, Matt Edmondson - Napier Tech, Kyle Gardiner - Central HB, Izaiah Lange - Napier Tech, Liam McCarthy - Napier Tech, Fred Mowat - Central HB, Jacob Smith - Central HB, Dominic Thompson - Central HB, Graeme Tryon – Cornwall, Todd Watson - Napier Tech, Kurtis Weeks - Napier Tech
Coach: Dave Castle, manager: Dale Smidt