Young players, such as batsman Will Young, are performing for CD. Photo / Getty Images
It will take place on the border of two scattered major association districts but whoever trips at the height of battle today will question their faith this summer.
The Devon Hotel Central Districts Stags took to the surf yesterday in 30C but today they will be drawing a line in the sand against Northern Districts Knights in Gisborne in their one-day Ford Trophy cricket match.
Slipping on the proverbial banana skin - the Harry Barker Reserve pitch - is a possibility if Poverty Bay's seven-wicket humiliation of the Pay Excellence Hawke's Bay senior men's rep team in November is anything to go by.
The Stags and the Knights didn't appear to care if they won the toss or not or, for that matter, what the groundsmen will conjure.
While the deck had "a lot of grass on it", according to CD coach Heinrich Malan, it was a proper first-class wicket.
"We'll see what the day brings," Malan said, preferring to bank on his men to put the ball in the right areas to ask ND batsmen the question before applying themselves adroitly in occupying the batting crease.
ND coach James Pamment said the major venues in the district were booked for the matches and pre-matches leading up to the ICC World Cup from next month as well as men and women's representative matches so it was a good opportunity for the peripheral regions to host a domestic fixture.
"It's 29 degrees now but the covers will go on the green grass and tomorrow when it's removed it might be brown," a jovial Pamment said.
Either way, seam bowlers should be frothing at the mouth in a game where CD will be out to atone themselves after their only loss in the limited-overs competition to the Knights in New Plymouth in the second game on New Year's Eve.
"We came to Pukekura Park on the back of a disappointing game in round one in Alexandra so we were delighted to beat CD," Pamment said, after the Stags could not make it two from two following a record-breaking thumping of the Canterbury Kings at the same venue three days before.
However, since then CD skipper, Kruger van Wyk, has led the Stags to three victories to sit on the top rung of the competition ladder before yesterday's game that saw the Auckland Aces leapfrog CD.
ND are in fourth place and with the Aces beating the Wellington Firebirds by four wickets last night, the top four look safe for the playoffs considering the Firebirds are fifth on five points, seven behind the Knights.
However, CD's injury woes continued with specialist batsman Ben Smith joining Ben Wheeler and Seth Rance in the casualty list, out for 6-8 weeks with a broken foot.
"Ben charged down the wicket when he was on 30-odd runs and the ball hit his left foot but he soldiered on before his dismissal for 75," Malan said of the win over the Aces at Palmerston North last Friday.
More "pups" come in - Dean Robinson, of Taranaki, for Smith, joining Manawatu's Dane Cleaver after the pair played in the pre-test match against Sri Lanka before making a mark in the annual National Provincial A tourney in Lincoln, Christchurch, last week.
Bay skipper Stevie Smidt, a seamer, has played two games already for CD this summer.
Malan said Robinson had batted with aplomb at the "A" tourney and had taken his prowess to a new level.
"We're trying to get the player base bigger," he said of the continuation of an initiative started last summer.
The input of newcomers is what makes CD's performance remarkable, something the South African attributes to the regulars fulfilling their roles.
Unwanted for the World Cup, Black Caps seamer Doug Bracewell will spearhead CD's attack today.
"Any player who gets that close to selection and misses out will be disappointed," Malan said, adding the opener was mindful any injuries would leave the door open for him provided he keeps performing.
Both teams
* ND Knights:
Daniel Flynn (captain), Graeme Aldridge, Dean Brownlie, Jonathan Boult, Anton Devcich, Jono Hickey, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Anurag Verma, BJ Watling (wkt).
Coach: James Pamment.
* CD Stags:
Jamie How, George Worker, William Young, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Kruger van Wyk (captain, wk), Bevan Small, Marty Kain, Andrew Mathieson, Stevie Smidt, Dane Cleaver, Matt Thomas.
Coach: Heinrich Malan.