Batsmen pivotal, says Brown

The importance of occupying the crease for long periods has been stressed to the batsmen leading into Wairarapa's Hawke Cup senior men's cricket elimination match with Manawatu at Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North, tomorrow and Sunday.
Selector-coach Mark Brown believes his side have the potential to give the powerful Manawatu combination plenty to think about but only if they apply themselves in the batting department.
"Everybody has to go out there with the idea of making the bowlers work hard for their wickets," he said, adding the focus for batsmen at Wednesday's training session had been on deciding which balls should be left and which should be played. "It's all about knowing where your off stump is and not taking risks ... keeping it simple."
Indications are that Greytown duo Tim Lucas and Paul Lyttle will open the batting for Wairarapa with Lyttle, a player who likes to get on with the game, an interesting choice for a position which has been a problem area for Wairarapa teams over many years.
Brown agrees Lyttle might have to be more conservative than normal in the opening berth but is confident he has the temperament to handle that challenge.
"He's been around long enough to understand what's expected of him, we won't need to remind him how important it is to get a good start.".
The in-form Henry Cameron is likely to bat at three in the order this weekend and then will come his Lansdowne clubmate, Sam Curtis, who will continue in the captaincy role. He has been in good touch on the club scene during the past couple of weeks after being sidelined by injury.
Promising youngster Matthew Stringfellow (Greytown) will follow Curtis and should benefit hugely from the experience gained at the top provincial level when he was blooded there last season.
Then will come a bevy of all-rounders in Steve Coleman (Greytown), wicketkeeper Robbie Speers (Lansdowne), Seth Rance (Greytown), Jamie Holmes (Lansdowne) and Daniel Ingham (Wairarapa College), leaving Mark Scully (Lansdowne) or Daniel Haxton (Greytown) as "tail-end Charlie".
Central Stag Rance will obviously be the spearhead of the pace attack for Wairarapa and his success in that role is sure to play a big part in the end result. His partner with the new ball is likely to be Ingham, who doesn't have the same zip but tends to get movement through the air and off the pitch, and Scully and Haxton are both medium pacers capable of taking on a heavy workload if required.
Wairarapa should be well served too if the Fitzherbert Park pitch takes spin as Coleman, Curtis, Holmes and Cameron can do a good job in that sphere.
The clash with the Hawke Cup fixture will test the playing resources of leading sides Flight Centre Lansdowne and Greytown in their Bidwell Cup senior inter-club matches with Red Star and Rathkeale College respectively tomorrow.
Lansdowne have yet to taste defeat this season and would normally be expected to blitz Red Star but, with so many of their key players missing, they will find the going tough here. It will be the first match played at Queen Elizabeth Park oval this year.
Greytown too won't have it all their own way against an improving Rathkeale which, like Red Star, should be close to full strength.