Another toughie for Greytown

LETTING GO: Daniel Haxton is back in the mix for Greytown.PHOTO/FILE

Turkey Red Greytown have every reason to feel confident as they prepare to play highly vaunted Taranaki unit New Plymouth Old Boys in the second round of the national club limited-overs cricket championships.

Greytown go into Saturday's match at Palmerston North's Fitzherbert Park in rare form, having lost only the once - a Twenty20 affair to Red Star - during the entire club season in Wairarapa.

They beat the strongly favoured Cornwall, from Hawke's Bay, by two wickets in the first of their national championship games.

Two changes have been made from the Greytown side who played in that fixture. Skipper Tim Lucas is away at a wedding and medium pace bowler Harry Greenwood is unavailable through work commitments.

They have been replaced by Central Districts and under-17 rep Liam Burling and former Zimbabwe first-class player Brian James, a grand servant for the Greytown club for many seasons.

Also coming into the equation for Greytown is seam bowler Daniel Haxton, because Saturday's match will be played under Chapple Cup rules. That means teams can play 12 players and the likes of Haxton can bowl but not bat.

The depth of talent in the Greytown side is illustrated by the fact they includes 10 players who have repped for Wairarapa in the past three seasons and five who were part of the Wairarapa squad that earned the right to challenge for the Hawke Cup in 2011-12.

Central Stags all-rounder Seth Rance is clearly the individual star, being a mainstay with ball and bat, but there are plenty of others also capable of producing match-winning performances in both departments.

With Lucas out, usual deputy Gordon Reisima has taken over the captaincy and expressed confidence in his side's ability to sustain their long winning streak.

He said his side would not focus on New Plymouth Old Boys' strengths, rather concentrate on their own efforts, individually and collectively.

"We have a few tricks up our sleeves to combat the usual Taranaki style of cricket ... strangling batting sides and waiting for mistakes," Reisima said.

"We will definitely be coming hard at them and will leave everything on the field."

The Greytown squad is:

Gordon Reisima (captain), Jake Ross, Jackson Kibblewhite, Liam Burling, Steve Coleman, Paul Lyttle, Robbie Speers, Seth Rance, Ben Foster, Daniel Haxton, Brian James, Martin Reisima. Coach is Mark Childs and manager Jason Osborne.