A tough assignment has become even tougher for the Wairarapa senior men's cricket squad as they prepare to confront powerful Hawke's Bay in a Hawke Cup qualifying round match at Queen Elizabeth Park oval, Masterton, on Saturday and Sunday.
Having suffered a resounding nine-wicket loss to Hawke's Bay at the Chapple Cup limited-overs tourney, Wairarapa were always going to start rank outsiders no matter what the composition of the side but the unavailability of three of their more experienced campaigners, Sam Curtis, Paul Lyttle and Robbie Speers, clearly does nothing to enhance the prospects of an upset victory for the home team.
The loss of Speers is something of a double blow as the free-scoring batsmen was also likely to have been given the wicketkeeping duties. He had the misfortune to suffer a broken arm in a work accident and, consequently, won't be playing any more cricket for Wairarapa, or club side Greytown, for most, if not all, the remainder of the 2013-14 season.
It would seem logical that with Speers sidelined, Lansdowne's Alex Treseder will take the gloves this weekend, something he has done for Wairarapa with credit in the past. There is the possibility too that Treseder could be required to open the batting with clubmate Jamie Holmes but a more probable option is Sean Jarvis, whose patient approach could be better suited to the two-day game. In that case, Treseder would possibly drop into the middle order, behind George Deans, Henry Cameron and Harry Clinton-Baker and ahead of a couple of free scorers in Seth Rance and Liam Burling.
It will, as usual, be Rance who will provide the initial sting in the Wairarapa pace attack and his impressive figures against Manawatu in a Tararua Shield a couple of weeks back - 4-8 from eight overs - virtually guarantees medium pacer Calvin Ball will have a hefty workload as well. Jarvis and Stefan Hook-Sporry are others in the medium-pace category who could prove handy as is Lansdowne's Choi Jackson, who must be a chance to make his Hawke Cup debut.
