Wairarapa has impressive start

A record of four wins and two losses against other provinces from within the Central Districts region makes impressive reading, especially when you consider two of the Hawke Cup successes came against sides who invariably have the "wood" on Wairarapa in the two-day game, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay.

Wairarapa picked up first innings points over both of them, leading Manawatu by 50 runs and Hawke's Bay by 33 runs in the matches played on their home turf at Queen Elizabeth Park oval in Masterton.

The sole loss in the Hawke Cup qualifying games to date came against Wanganui in Wanganui where a poor batting effort in their second innings saw Wairarapa slump to a disappointing innings and 11 runs defeat.

The other disappointment for Wairarapa was in their opening fixture in the Chapple Cup one-day series when they lost to Hawke's Bay by 72 runs. That relegated them to the Cave Cup section of that competition and they prevailed there for the second successive season, beating Wanganui by 95 runs and Marlborough by 6 wickets.

Just how vital the acquisition of gun all-rounders Greg Todd and Peter Borren have been to the Wairarapa cause is shown by individual statistics.

Captain Todd has led from the front with scores of 27, 90 not out, 17 not out, 71 and 29 with the bat and an equally impressive return with the ball, having taken 10 wickets at a cost of just 105 runs.

Borren, who took over the captaincy when Todd was unavailable for the last Hawke Cup fixture, has had the four innings for scores of 62, 43, 4 and 1 and has taken 11 wickets for 135 runs.

Overall though the batting effort has been somewhat inconsistent, especially from those who could be rated as specialists in that department.

Opener James Holmes has had three fine knocks of 49, 65 not out and 104 in his nine innings and Henry Cameron and Matt Stringfellow both have one half-century against their names, Cameron from eight innings and Stringfellow from six.

It's been especially tough going for prolific Greytown duo Tim Lucas and Mark Childs. Lucas has a top score of 30 in 9 innings and five times has failed to get out of single figures while Childs has a top score of 17 in seven innings. The latter has, however, earned his keep with some excellent performances behind the stumps.

While Todd and Borren have been the stars of the Wairarapa attack with their medium pace deliveries there have been some encouraging signs too from Dean Van Deventer (6-226), Daniel Ingham (7-135) and Seth Rance, the Central Stag paceman who returned for the Hawke Cup match with Hawke's Bay after a lengthy injury break and claimed 4-27 from his 12 overs.

Both Van Deventer and Ingham have made an impact with the bat, Van Deventer having a top score of 44 and Ingham of 46 not out.

Wairarapa selectors Mark Brown and Brian James have blooded some promising youngsters and Rathkeale College duo Ben Foster and Josh Mann have risen to the occasion, Foster having useful stints with bat and ball and Mann appealing as a medium pacer with a handy future.

Wairarapa will complete their 2012 representative programme with Hawke Cup qualifying games against Taranaki and Horowhenua-Kapiti next month and wins there could see them a serious contender for an actual Hawke Cup challenge a little further down the track.