Gus Borren batting for Wairarapa against Horowhenua-Kapiti last weekend. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
CRICKET
JAKE BELESKI
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Injuries and player unavailability have ensured Wairarapa’s resources would be stretched to the limit when they began their Chapple Cup campaign yesterday in Napier.
The team was to play three one-day matches across three days, beginning with a match against Nelson yesterday.
The winner of that match was to advance into the Chapple Cup semifinals today, while the loser would be be left to contest the Cave Cup semifinals.
The team that coach Neil Perry has assembled for the matches is largely the same as the one that scored an emphatic Furlong Cup win over Horowhenua-Kapiti in Masterton last weekend, but there are some changes.
Opening batsmen John McKenzie drops out of the squad, while Mark Childs, George Deans and Stefan Hook come into the fold.
Perry said some players would not be available for all three matches, which could lead to some mixing and matching when it came to the match-day squads.
“We’re not quite sure how people will pull up, and we’ve got a few people potentially on standby.
“We’ve got three solid days of cricket, so we’re conscious of that and one-day cricket is a bit more full-on, so we are a little bit concerned.”
Those battling injuries are Daniel Ingham, Robbie Speers and Gordon Reisima.
“It’s not really affected us that much, but it has affected our resources and how deep we are,” Perry said.
Despite the concerns around the make-up of the squad in the lead-up, Perry said they would head into the matches with confidence after last weekend’s performance.
“It was a really nice way to start the season.
“You’ve still got to go out there and perform, so I was very pleased with everybody.”
The switch to one-day mode will bring its own set of challenges for the team, but most of the changes will happen in the batting department.
Perry said they would adopt a more dynamic approach to their batting, as well as using more of a “horses for courses” outlook when it came to the batting order.
“The overall plan will be similar, but the batting will definitely change, in terms of our approach and the batting order as well. The game plan definitely changes, but our bowling and fielding will stay reasonably similar.”
Wairarapa will be desperately hoping to improve on last year’s campaign, in which they lost all three matches against Hawke’s Bay, Horowhenua-Kapiti and Wanganui respectively.
Wairarapa squad: Mark Childs, Patrick Gluck, Quinn Childs, Ethan Childs, Robbie Speers, Jared Watt, Liam Burling, Daniel Ingham, Gus Borren, Jack Forrester, Gordon Reisima, George Deans, Jaco Vorster, Stefan Hook.
