Debutant Patel hits reps

Greytown spinner Nash Patel is the new face in the Wairarapa senior men's cricket team to meet Manawatu in a Chapple Cup limited overs match at Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North, on Sunday.
He is one of three players brought into the squad from that which played Wanganui in a drawn Hawke Cup match last weekend but the only debutante, both middle order batsman Alex Treseder and all-rounder Brock Price having played often for their province in the past.
The changes do not, however, reflect any dissatisfaction from selector Mark Brown at the way in which his squad have been performing.
Rather, they come through the unavailability of skipper Sam Curtis, who has had an operation to mend a broken bone in his left hand, and all-rounders Daniel Ingham and Dean Van Deventer who have both headed south to continue their studies, Ingham to Dunedin and Van Deventer to Christchurch.
Patel's performance will be of special interest because of the excellent form he has shown on the club scene.
He is a spinner who likes to give the ball plenty of air and is capable of extracting considerable turn from a helpful pitch and Brown is confident he will give a strong account of himself.
"He puts the ball in the right areas and does enough to keep the batsmen guessing, he could be very useful for us.".
The introduction of Patel gives Wairarapa added strength for spin bowlers where they already have proven performers in Steve Coleman, Jamie Holmes and Matthew Stringfellow.
Both Coleman and Holmes struggled with their line and length against Wanganui and took a bit of "stick" as a consequence and they will be looking for more consistency in what is their side's last rep game of the 2010-11 season.
Losing Van Deventer and Ingham unquestionably takes some sting out of the Wairarapa pace attack and places greater responsibility on the shoulders of Central Stag Seth Rance to do some damage while the shine is still on the ball.
Rance bowled well against Wanganui without having much luck, several likely looking lbw appeals being turned down, and he has the potential to be lethal on a pitch giving the seamers any assistance.
Just who takes the new ball with Rance will be a poser for whoever replaces Curtis in the captain's role.
In-form top order batsmen Henry Cameron and Coleman are the leading candidates and either Price or Mark Scully likely to be considered next.
It will be an interesting choice, Price, perhaps, being the quicker off the two but Scully the more consistent.
On the batting front there is no reason to alter the top order of Tim Lucas, Holmes and Cameron, who are all in good touch, and Treseder will probably comes in at No4 in place of Curtis.
Those are big boots to fill but Treseder is a solid batsman in his own right who doesn't mind giving the ball a decent whack when the occasion demands.
The depth of the Wairarapa batting should be one of the team's main strengths, as evidenced last weekend when a very competent batsman in Robbie Anderson was actually at No11.
Not that it showed in the total batting effort then with too many of the players losing their wickets through rash shots.
Big improvement will be wanted in that area on Sunday.
Interestingly, Anderson also took the gloves in the Wanganui game with usual 'keeper Robbie Speers in the field and that situation is likely to continue this weekend.
Matches in the Bidwell Cup two-day senior inter-club series continue in Wairarapa tomorrow with Greytown hosting Flight Centre Lansdowne and Wairarapa College playing Red Star at Wairarapa College.
Both games - the second day will be on February 26 - should be evenly contested.