There is usually no bigger game for the Bay of Plenty representative cricket team than the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl two-day match-up with Hamilton.
The long-time rivals will square off todayand tomorrowat the Tauranga Domain. During the last five years, Bay of Plenty have edged Hamilton 3-2 in Fergus Hickey victories and have posted two Hawke Cup Direct Challenge wins in the same period.
Bay of Plenty coach Charles Williams said: "After the washed-out encounter with Counties Manukau two weeks ago, the Hamilton match is shaping as a very important match. We always look forward to playing Hamilton as we know that they will bring a strong line-up and seem to play a similar style to us.
"The side will be without regular captain Peter Drysdale, after Pete suffered a bad injury while mountain biking. We are lucky that replacement skipper Jono Boult has had a lot of experience captaining the side and has done a great job this season, with Otumoetai Cadets and the Bay T20 side in Taupo.
"While Fergus Hickey and Hawke Cup calculations are never far from our planning, we will be more focused on putting on the type of performance we all know the lads are capable of. If we play well enough on day one then we can look at the options we have for day two, we certainly won't be looking too far ahead," Williams said.
