Rested players but Greytown still hot

CONSISTENT: Stefan Hook-Sporry, mainstay of Wairarapa College attack.

Greytown will be resting key players for their Umpires Cup senior men's cricket match with Wairarapa College at Greytown tomorrow.

The southerners, who are unbeaten in two games, had the luxury of having a full squad of 16 to pick from and among those who won't be taking the field in this particular game are three of their Wairarapa representatives, Seth Rance, Ben Foster and Daniel Haxton, all of whom could be classified as all-rounders on the club scene.

Normally the absence of players of their calibre would be seen as a crushing blow but with another couple of Wairarapa reps in Harry Greenwood and Martin Reisima returning to the Greytown fold after completing their university commitments that would be an exaggeration.

Greenwood and Reisima are very handy performers with the ball and while they will bat low in the order are capable of making a useful impact in that department as well.

The big challenge for Wairarapa College will be keeping what appeals as a powerful Greytown batting line-up in check.

Tim Lucas, Matt Hudson, Jackson Kibblewhite, Paul Lyttle, Jake Ross, Robbie Speers and Steve Coleman all have the ability to churn out runs at a decent pace and the students will be depending to a large extent on their star medium pacer Stefan Hook-Sporry to make early inroads on a wicket which will probably give him some assistance.

Wairarapa College, for their part, are not exactly devoid of talent in the batting sphere either. Brad Griffiths is a youngster never afraid to take the battle to the bowlers and Nathan Elliott, Josh Pepperell, Lucien Burt and Jack Wakeling clearly have the potential to become consistent run-getters at club level too.

Not having the prospect of Rance charging in at them to think about should make life easier for them. Just what effect it has on the end result will be interesting to see.

Lansdowne and Red Star have had some stirring battles over the years and nothing should change when they meet in what was scheduled to be the first match of the season to be played on the main strip at Queen Elizabeth Park oval. However, yesterday's wet weather has led to the game being transferred to Park Sports 1.

Red Star's big hope will be that Wairarapa skipper Henry Cameron doesn't replicate the form he showed in his team's big win over Rathkeale College last weekend when he bludgeoned his way to a stunning 153 and they will be also be keen to blunt the effectiveness of the consistent medium pacer Calvin Ball at the bowling crease.

Lansdowne will start favourites but Red Star will know that if they can get Cameron cheaply their chances of an upset win will be greatly enhanced.

Rathkeale College and Copper Kettle Kuranui Old Boys will clash at Rathkeale College. The Rathkeale bowlers took some stick from Cameron last weekend and won't find it a lot easier tomorrow if Sam Curtis and Darren Dingle get into full stride for KOB. On the other side of the coin, if they have them back in the pavilion early then KOB could be in trouble as their batting depth is nothing to write home about.

Another series of Umpires Cup matches will also be played on Sunday although the game between Rathkeale and Wairarapa colleges has already been deferred to November 24.

Red Star and Kuranui Old Boys will square off at Kuranui College with Red Star's stronger batting line-up perhaps giving them the edge while what could be billed as the feature game of the weekend will occur at Greytown where the home side will be up against Lansdowne.

A close finish is on the cards there.