Cricket: Teams named for North versus South

Brooke Walker and Gary Stead will lead the North and South Island teams in next Sunday's State of Origin cricket match.

The two teams were named yesterday by the national selectors for the match to be played at the same venue as the State Shield final on Saturday.

If the reserve day is needed for the final, the North v South match will be moved to the next day, Monday.

New Zealand Cricket selector Ross Dykes said the teams were picked largely on form but there were one or two players the selectors wanted to have a look at.

"The only surprise to most would be Jesse Ryder, who is in his first season in the State Shield," he said.

"Ryder has had a pretty good State Shield season for Central Districts and we are keen to have a look at him at this level."

Eligibility for the State of Origin teams has been determined by the major association for which a player first played either first class or senior representative one-day cricket.

In the case of players who first played for Central Districts, selection was determined by the location of the district from which the player was first selected to play.

North Island: Brooke Walker (captain), Aaron Barnes, Tama Canning, Matthew Hart, Paul Hitchcock, Matt Horne, Richard Jones, Michael Mason, Chris Nevin, Jesse Ryder, Matthew Walker, Joseph Yovich.

South Island: Gary Stead (captain), Carl Anderson, Craig Cumming, Stephen Cunis, Chris Gaffaney, Brent Hefford, Llorne Howell, Warren McSkimming, Chris Martin, Shayne O'Connor, Michael Papps, Shanan Stewart.

- NZPA