News that Netherlands skipper Peter Borren will make his debut for Wairarapa this weekend should certainly help strengthen the batting effort ... and the bowling for that matter.
He is a true allrounder who usually bats in the middle order and bowls at lively medium pace and he has performed well at international level in both spheres, including a 96 against Canada.
Borren is just one of several Wairarapa players capable of scoring heavily against the other Cave Cup sides, none of whom are expected to field what could be described as imposing attacks.
Captain Greg Todd top scored against Hawke's Bay with 27 and looks in the sort of touch which suggests a knock of some significance is close at hand. Tim Lucas, Mark Childs, Henry Cameron, Matt Stringfellow, Jamie Holmes, Dean Van Deventer and Paul Lyttle have all made their presence felt in the provincial arena from time to time.
Just who will bat at the very top of the order will be interesting.
Lucas is the only specialist opener in the squad and looks the logicial choice for one of the berths but it is a real toss-up as to who should join him there. Cameron, Todd, Holmes and Childs are all possibilities.
The loss of the experienced Steve Coleman because he no longer fits the eligibility rules now he is playing his club cricket in Wellington does weaken the Wairarapa attack as he was clearly their main option in the spin department.
The onus will now fall on Stringfellow, Holmes and perhaps even Cameron to step up to the mark if the pitches are taking turn and how they cope could end up having a big say in the end results.
There should, however, be no worries for Wairarapa if it is the medium pacers who find conditions in their favour.
With Borren, Todd, Van Deventer and promising youngster Daniel Haxton leading the way there is pleasing depth in that area and they should continue on the good work they did last weekend when they restricted Hawke's Bay to what should have been a gettable score.
On the club front the first series of matches in the Bidwell Cup competition are scheduled tomorrow and they will be played under the one innings format.
Normally the betting would be Flight Centre Lansdowne to beat Wairarapa College at Wairarapa College and Turkey Red Greytown having too many guns for Rathkeale College at Rathkeale. But the clash with the Cave Cup tourney means results are virtually impossible to predict.
It means both Greytown and Lansdowne will be missing several key players and their chances will greatly depend on the quality of the replacements they are able to find.
