Busy weekend for cricketers

A YOUNG Rathkeale College side will have a busy start to their Umpire's Cup senior men's inter-club cricket campaign this weekend, playing two matches in as many days.
They will front up to Academy at Rathkeale College tomorrow and then on Sunday will meet Red Star, again at Rathkeale, in a match brought forward because of school commitments.
No doubt Red Star will welcome that move as their game against Lansdowne originally scheduled for tomorrow has already been postponed until a later date.
Talented all-rounder Dean van Deventer will skipper a Rathkeale team devoid of two of their stars from recent seasons Doug Bracewell and Andy Dodd.He will shoulder a huge responsibility with bat and ball although good support should be forthcoming from other promising types like Matthew Stringfellow., Jamie Holmes and Matt Dalley.
Interestingly enough Rathkeale coach Shey O'Gorman also has a decent-sized foot in the Red Star camp , both as a player and a coach.They have made some useful gains in Brad Edwards, an opening bat from the Easts club in Wellington, and two former Wairarapa College first XI players in Jason Keen and Darren Jones.Stalwarts like Carwyn Caffell, Jared Watt, Troy Burling and Joe Hull will also be on deck again.
The Academy squad is understood to contain about 20 players, most of them from England and the likelihood is that three or four of them will become regular members of the Lansdowne club, who are struggling for numbers in their premier team.They do, however, still have the services of experienced all-rounder Robin James and accurate medium place bowlers, Doug Johnston and Choi Jackson.
The other Umpires Cup match tomorrow sees Wairarapa College up against Greytown at Park Sports No.1.
Wairarapa College have been boosted by the acquisition of Sam Curtis, the Wairarapa opening bat who played his club cricket in Wellington last season. He joins a side which will be skippered by Robbie Anderson and includes other talented youngsters in Joel Macklin, Tom Adamson, James Adamson and Daniel Ingham.
Greytown are the side most pundits are picking as the team to beat in both limited-overs and two-day play this season. The return of pace bowler Hayden Spierling from Wellington is a huge plus for a team which already has plenty of proven performers like Willie Tatham Evan Burt, Dean Southey, Duncan Didsbury, Josh Doherty and Paul Lyttle to name a few.