Batsmen told to toughen up

A toughened Northern Knights batting unit is needed going forward in the Plunket Shield, says four-day match skipper Brad Wilson.

Reflecting on the Knights' 19-run loss to Auckland Aces in the first round of the Shield at Whangarei, which ended on Wednesday, the Kaipara Flats 26-year-old said the team let themselves down with a poor batting effort.

The Knights made 136 and 244, while Auckland put on 260 and 139 in their two innings, with ND falling just short in their pursuit of 264 to win on the challenging Cobham Oval pitch on the third day. While the batting order needed to step up for round two of the Shield against a high scoring Wellington Firebirds, Wilson complimented the Knights' bowling attack.

"Our seamers did a fantastic job in both innings which kept us in the match for the whole game. Unfortunately as a batting unit, we let them down, making poor decisions and with too many weak dismissals," Wilson said.

Northland Black Cap Tim Southee put in a strong performance in his comeback from a knee injury in the domestic competition ahead of New Zealand's series against Australia. The fast-medium bowler took four wickets in total, with best figures of 3/23 from nine overs during the Aces' second innings. Trent Boult, Brent Arnel and Anton Devcich all took a share of the wickets during the Knights' solid performance with the ball and in the field.

Having played for club side HBS Den Haag in Holland during the northern hemisphere summer, followed by a campaign with New Zealand A in Australia, at the Emerging Players' tournament, Wilson said he was more prepared for a big summer of cricket.

"Most of the cricket I have been playing lately has been of a high standard, which has set me up nicely, and I am feeling pretty good," Wilson said.

Despite his bolstered confidence, the right-handed batsman did not fire as well as he had wanted to in this week's match, where he scored 11 in the first innings and 41 in the second.

"I wasn't happy personally with how I batted. I felt good in the second innings when it mattered but got out by quite a soft dismissal," he said.

Wilson said he was enjoying the captaincy role and was not letting any added pressure get to him. "There's a little extra to worry about, but I was captain a little bit last year so it's not completely foreign territory ... and the guys are a fantastic bunch. There is a really good team spirit like there usually is in the ND side."

The Knights team to play Wellington in round two of the Shield, starting on Monday, was named yesterday and contains nine current or past Black Caps. The additions may well provide the boost in the batting ranks Wilson is looking for, with the likes of Dan Vettori, Kane Williamson and BJ Watling returning to the fold.

Northland's Joseph Yovich was not considered due to straining his back on day one of the match in Whangarei. Yovich will travel to Taupo with the Northland First X1 who play in the Brian Dunning tournament this weekend.

The Auckland Aces play Canterbury Wizards in Auckland, and Central Stags face Otago Volts at Lincoln in next week's other round two matches.

Northern Knights to play Wellington: Brad Wilson (c), Graeme Aldridge, Corey Anderson, Brent Arnel, Trent Boult, James Marshall, Peter McGlashan, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Daniel Vettori.