“A stronger Shrimpton Trophy competition than we’ve been involved in before.”
That’s the opinion of Southey Sayer Wairarapa Korus coach Simon Roseingrave in the buildup to Sunday’s opening round of Central Districts’ premier women’s championship against Hawke’s Bay at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval.
The main reason behind Roseingrave’s reckoning is that the scheduling for the two full rounds of the Mike Shrimpton Trophy has been done so that districts will have the services of their Central Hinds players for most of the rounds.
Wairarapa have four Hinds – Ocean Bartlett, Georgia Atkinson, Emma McLeod, and Melissa Hansen – as well as CD ‘A’ players Olivia Clark and Macey Lyford, but Roseingrave believes that despite having those riches that has hampered the Korus preparation for Sunday.
“We’re almost the victims of our own success because we’ve got a number of Hinds, we’ve got CD ‘A’ players, and St Matthew’s have been successful at Gillette Venus [secondary school competition], and there are a lot of pushes and pulls on players, so for us in Wairarapa, it’s very hard to get the team together for trainings as a team,” Roseingrave said.
“We always have challenges because of geography and a number of other things going for a range of our players; however, it’s a strong team on paper, and it’s about us gelling when we hit the field.
“There are players who have quite a bit of cricket under their belts, but we just haven’t had any cricket as a team, and building those partnerships in the middle and running between the wickets, those little combinations will be missing.”
The Korus will be without regular first choices Elizabeth Cohr and Chichi Beck, both at university, while wicketkeeper-batter Gemma Sims has club cricket in Wellington.
That opens the door for Wairarapa College all-rounder Maddy Brown to make her senior representative debut, and Roseingrave feels that the year 10 student is up for the challenge.
“Maddy’s a tall left-armer, which is quite unique in the women’s game, and she’s one of those younger players who has a bit of x-factor about her. She hits the ball really hard, and her left arm provides a different angle.
“It’s a big game for her to start off with because Hawke’s Bay have named a very strong team, but we believe she’s mature enough, and she’s got something about her that’s different, and she deserves her opportunity.”
Roseingrave said, though, that for Wairarapa to succeed the senior players need to step up and put their imprint on the competition.
“Some of the senior players are still juniors, but it’s time for the likes of Emma McLeod and Ocean Bartlett to really show their wares at Shrimpton Trophy level. They’re starting to show it at the Hinds, and outside of the Hinds, we’ve got some CD ‘A’ players and some Under-19 reps.
“I expect an increased level of performance but balancing that against a stronger opposition as well. Even when we name our strongest team, there’s going to be some good competitive cricket, so it’s very hard to say we’re out to win the Shrimpton because we’ve got a strong team.”
Despite missing a solid buildup for Sunday’s 40-over-a-side match, Roseingrave is confident of turning on a competitive showing against a Hawke’s Bay team boasting four or five Hinds, including White Ferns opening bowler Rosemary Mair.
“We’ve probably named our strongest side for a few seasons, but I would suggest they have as well. You’re looking at eight or nine Central Hinds in action, so it should be a good level of competition, and I’ll be very disappointed if we weren’t competitive,” he said.
With no specialist openers in the squad, who opens the batting is likely to be Roseingrave’s biggest conundrum, although McLeod, who impressed at the Under-19 World Cup, and Vanessa Taylor are likely to be handed the duties. That would give the Korus a powerful middle order of Atkinson, Hansen, and Bartlett to set a platform for a big score.
Southey Sayer Wairarapa Korus vs Hawke’s Bay – Queen Elizabeth Park Oval 11am Sunday
Wairarapa Korus:
Ocean Bartlett [captain], Georgia Atkinson, Sally Booth [wk], Madison Brown [debut], Olivia Clark, Melissa Hansen, Lily Hunt, Macy Lyford, Emma McLeod, Jess Monk, Olivia Roseingrave, Vanessa Taylor.
