State of Oval wicket centre of attention

The wicket at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval in Masterton will be the centre of attention when matches in the Wairarapa Cricket Association's Umpires Cup competition continue this coming Saturday.
Scheduled to play there are Academy and Lansdowne and it will be the first time this season that the Oval pitch has been in use.
And with Wairarapa's opening Chapple Cup one-day and Hawke Cup two-day matches to be played there a fortnight later the state of the wicket is sure to be carefully scrutinised by Wairarapa officials, who will be keen to see it provide a surface suitable for representative play.
"You always like to think that knowledge of the pitch gives you an advantage when playing at home," Wairarapa selection convener Dermot Payton said. "Obviously we haven't got long to work out any little variables it might have so we have to make the most of what we have got left."
The state of the wicket is sure to be carefully scrutinised by Wairarapa officials, who will be keen to see it provide a surface suitable for representative play.
Payton said it would be nice to think the Oval wicket would be similar to that produced at Wairarapa College for the second day of the Bidwell Cup match between Red Star and Wairarapa College on Saturday. It provided an excellent batting strip, something evidenced by the fact two centuries were completed there, one by Red Star's Joe Hull and then other by Wairarapa College's Sam Curtis.
"You'd have to say the grounds staff at the college did a great job to come up with a wicket like that, that's the sort of surface you want for the players to get full value for their talents," he said.
Meanwhile, the Wairarapa B men's cricket team will be looking to claim another worthwhile scalp when they play their Manawatu counterparts in Palmerston North on Sunday, December 2.
They kicked off their 2007-08 campaign with an impressive victory over Horowhenua-Kapiti B at Greytown and Payton expects them to measure up well to the sterner opposition likely to be provided by Manawatu.
"All of the players have been in good form on the club scene so confidence shouldn't be an issue," Payton said.
"It's another step up for them but that shouldn't be a problem."
The Wairarapa B team is: Alex Treseder, James Adamson, Daniel Stoneley, Robbie Anderson, Joe Hull, Jeremy Anderson (captain), Dean van Deventer, Brock Price, Richard Irons, Jared Watt, John Samuel, Tom Adamson.
The side will hold a fielding practice at Wairarapa College on Friday, starting at 5.30pm, and transport on Sunday will leave McDonald's car park in Masterton at 8am.