Records on the line

Their unbeaten records will be on the line when Academy and Wairarapa College meet in a Wairarapa Cricket Association Umpires Cup senior men's inter-club cricket match at Rathkeale College tomorrow.
Both sides have started the 2007-08 season in impressive fashion, Academy having disposed off Rathkeale College and defending champions Red Star and Wairarapa College upsetting Greytown and then hammering Lansdowne.
Academy probably deserve to start slight favourites as they would appear to have more depth than the students in both the batting and bowling departments but, by the same token, a Wairarapa College victory would certainly not rank as a surprise.
In Richard Irons Wairarapa College have a medium pace bowler whose confidence will be running high after his five wicket "bag" against Lansdowne and in Sam Curtis, Alex Treseder and James Adamson they have a trio of batsmen who have also shown good early-season form.
With a surfeit of spinners in their side Academy will be looking forward to the day when club games are played on grass wickets because of the more pronounced turn they should achieve there.
The onus thus far then has been on their medium pacers to bear the brunt of the attack on the artificial surfaces and, spearheaded by Steve Coleman, they have responded well to that challenge.
Also noticeable in last weekend's match was the keenness of the Academy side in the field with plenty of "yap" accompanying their bowling effort. Perhaps the fact the Poms had done so well in t hat other sport we don't really want to mention added to their enthusiasm in that respect!
Lansdowne will be hoping that last weekend's debacle against Wairarapa College when they were beaten by nine wickets after being bowled out for just 60 won't be repeated when they take on Greytown at Park Sportsground No.1 tomorrow.
The struggle Lansdowne has had in even getting a full muster of players this season is evidenced by the fact they had a number of "fringe" Academy players in their line-up last weekend and from all accounts that is likely to continue as the season progresses. However, any side which includes a player with the all-round capabilities of Robin James can never be under-estimated and Greytown will be very wary of the threat he poses with bat and ball.
Whichever way you look at this game though and allowing for the fact that limited-overs cricket is always likely to provide the unexpected a comfortable Greytown win seems on the cards.
With only two games played it's too early to suggest Red Star's defence of the Umpires Cup is on shaky ground but they will desperate to chalk up their first win of the season when they take on Rathkeale College at Rathkeale College.
The greater experience of Red Star should be a deciding factor here but in Dean Van Deventer the students have an inspirational leader capable of having a huge impact as a new ball bowler and a top order batsman.
Finally, a note to all teams. The Times-Age is revamping their sports coverage and as part of that process it would be appreciated if scorebooks of senior games could be made available by 10am on Sundays so that detailed coverage of each match can be provided in Monday's paper.