“Luke Fisher and Cohen Loffler — Luke as the anchor — know we want to set a confident tone with the bat up top in the first Pool 2 T20 game against Counties-Manukau.”
Travis O'Rourke and Max Briant will open the bowling for us. Trav's in great rhythm at the moment and Max hits the deck hard.
The pace attack will also feature in-swing bowler and skipper Nathan Trowell and a talented all-rounder in Loffler, who is capable of bowling the short ball.
The spin attack rests with Daniel Stewart and Liam Barbier.
Stewart relishes wheeling away on a good line and length for over after over while Barbier is a clever flighter of the ball.
The form of Liam Spring with both wicketkeeping gloves and bat will be important.
His last three scores in the Hope Cup Poverty Bay club competition for Campion College before Round 7 today were 65 not out, 35 and 23. He also took eight catches.
Under Graham Hudson in Gisborne last year, Poverty Bay beat powerhouse Counties in T20 pool play and placed sixth in the 50-over format of the game.
The Bay will have a chance to give Counties a repeat dose in Round 1 of T20 play at Ray Boord Park Reserve, followed by a Round 2 clash with Bay of Plenty Lakelands at the famous Smallbone Park.
On Day 2, Trowell's outfit will play Northland at Boord Park Reserve in the morning and as-yet unknown opponents at a yet-to-be-decided venue in the afternoon.
On Wednesday, Poverty Bay play Round 1 of the 50-over competition against last year's champions Bay of Plenty Coastlands — holders of The Alan Whimp Cup for that format and the Pat Malcon Secondary Boys T20 Cup.
Opponents and venues for days 4 and 5 are determined by results.
Work commitments and injury to players in contention have seen this group become closeknit in response.
High-quality fielding is a hallmark of any cricketer or team's passion for the game, and this Poverty Bay team have the skills and confidence that come with improvement and increased knowledge of the game.
They are capable of upsetting big names.
