Cricket: Rotorua XI to take on NZ Army

New Zealand Army batsman Kevin Hurrell plays a shot. Photo / Supplied

Members of the New Zealand Army will go to battle in Rotorua this weekend. On the cricket pitch, that is.

The Rotorua Cricket Association has events planned throughout 2018 to celebrate its centenary, the first of which is a match between an invitational Rotorua XI and the New Zealand Army cricket side.

Next week the army go up against the New Zealand Air Force and New Zealand Navy in an annual tri-series competition. New Zealand Army cricket code chairman Major Scott MacGibbon, who plays in the team, said tomorrow's match would be good preparation.

"We always look to play an invitational game around this time of year and one of our guys, Ryan Walmsley, is from Rotorua. He was approached by [Rotorua Cricket Association administrator Karen Kyle] to see if we'd be keen.

"I think this game will be a really good opportunity. Getting out there and playing regular club sides and invitational sides is always a good chance for our guys to get out, swing the willow and play outside of those two regular games we have each year.

"It's a chance to play different people and get some community engagement. Playing cricket is a good opportunity to do something other than just your army work, but still engage with your comrades and teammates.

"It gives you something to look forward to, sport in the army is highly encouraged," MacGibbon said.

The NZ Army side would be looking to shake the "bridesmaid" tag in this year's tri-series.

"We've nailed down second place, year after year, we've lost to the Air Force for about the last 10-15 years. Hopefully this year will be different.

"I think this year we have a pretty strong batting line-up. Unfortunately, a couple of our top batsmen are unavailable on Sunday, but they'll certainly be there for the other games," he said.

Bay of Plenty Indians' Shonit Chandra will captain the Rotorua invitational XI against the New Zealand Army on Sunday. Photo / File

Rotorua captain Shonit Chandra said it would be an honour to captain what he believed was a strong side and to play against the New Zealand Army.

"It's a great opportunity and it's going to be a great game - hopefully the bad weather stays away. I'm grateful to the Rotorua Cricket Association for giving us this chance and the boys have been training hard," Chandra said.

He said the Rotorua team was well balanced.

"We've all known each other for a long time and the team is full of quality batsmen, bowlers and all rounders. We're playing at home and we know if we get some good runs on the board it's very hard to chase down," he said.

The 50-over match starts at 10am at Smallbone Park.

Rotorua XI to play the New Zealand Army at Smallbone Park on Sunday

Shonit Chandra (captain), Ben Fraser, AJ Kumar, Steve Nichols, George Dawson, Allan McMurdo, Liam Kelly, Satpal Singh, Cam Ingram, Neeraj Kumar, Jono Collier, Bradley Wiggins (12th man).