"Obviously we might have to manage his work rate but that's no biggie."
It would be a game man who would question Cooper's ability to know what it takes to succeed as a pace bowler.
In a first-class career in English county cricket spanning 22 years, most of them at Nottinghamshire, he picked up a staggering 800 wickets, many of them while bowling alongside Kiwi great Sir Richard Hadlee.
The selection of MacDonald is not the only talking point in this weekend's Wairarapa squad.
Greytown's Todd Thayer will also be making his debut after just a handful of club games. Like Cooper, he has come north from Southland and the coach recalls him showing useful skills as an all-rounder there.
He has, however, been selected mainly for his batting skills on this occasion.
What number Thayer will bat at is open to question with Cooper admitting he was thinking seriously about making changes to the order fielded in the Hawke Cup qualifier with Taranaki a fortnight ago.
Wairarapa lost that game outright after poor starts to both innings and Cooper is keen to see them rectify that situation against a Horowhenua-Kapiti side also coming off the back of a hefty first round defeat.
"I think our batsmen need to be more selfish in how they go about their games.
"They have to take the view that if they do well then the team will benefit too. We don't want players throwing their wickets away, they have to make the bowlers work hard for everything they get. The longer they stay at the crease the more runs they will get."
Cooper also wants his bowlers to focus on maintaining a consistent line and length.
"You can't always rely on the batsmen to make mistakes, you have to work hard at doing the simple things well. Staying patient is important."
One of the more interesting aspects of this weekend's match will come at the toss.
This will be the first serious test this season for the Queen Elizabeth Park pitch and, with that in mind, whoever calls correctly might well be tempted to give their bowlers first use of a track, which just might have some tricks in it.
-The full Wairarapa squad is: Jamie Holmes (captain), Brock Price, Troy Burling, Sean Jarvis, Paul Lyttle, Todd Thayer, Stefan Hook-Sporry, Drew MacDonald, Brian James, Liam Burling, Gordon Reisima, Robbie Speers.
Meanwhile, Umpires Cup interclub games will also continue over the weekend with Rathkeale College taking on Wairarapa College at Rathkeale tomorrow and Greytown up against Red Star at Greytown on Sunday.
