Cricket: Teen staunch but time for seniors to man up

WICKET TALK: CD batsmen need to embrace their dialect on the field. PHOTO/FILE

It's not always advisable to send boys to do men's jobs but when the lads emulate the feat of grown-ups then it must be a fillip for the collective.

While 18-year-old Josh Clarkson stood staunch in getting the Devon Hotel Central Districts over the line on Wednesday with an unbeaten 68 from 48 balls in their three-wicket win over Mondiale Auckland Aces in New Plymouth it's time for the relatively more seasoned batsmen to man up in their Georgie Pie Super Smash Twenty20 campaign.

"We're still playing in bits and pieces," CD Stags coach Heinrich Malan said last night before they reload against the smarting Aces at Eden Park Outer Oval in Auckland in a televised match on Sky from 1.10pm tomorrow.

No 9 Marty Kain, not out 19, had forged a nail-biting partnership with No 7 Clarkson after the top-five CD batsmen had come and gone with not a single one of them getting into double figures.

Striving to play no-holds barred cricket, Malan, said, remained the underlying theme for his troops.

"The last pieces of jigsaw need to fall into place with continuity in our cricket."

It is something the South African aspires for in his third term not just in one aspect of the game but also in all three formats, including the white-ball Ford Trophy one-day competition yet to start and the Budget Rentals-sponsored Plunket Shield red-ball, four-day campaign that started in October and is in recess until the T20 competition winds up.

CD are sticking to their same 12 players from Wednesday, with Blair Tickner returning to Hawke's Bay to resume premier men's club cricket for Ruahine Motors Ford Central Hawke's Bay today and then fulfil senior men's rep duties tomorrow in the Kirk Cup encounter against Poverty Bay at Nelson Park, Napier.

"I caught up with Jesse [Ryder] today and he's coming along all right with rehab but he's still got about 10 days before he returns," Malan said of the opening batsman who has only played one game for as many runs because of a strained thigh, which means Indika Senarathne receives another chance to show Malan he and the other top five batsmen can play "smart".

That is tantamount to showing respect to good bowlers and picking off anything wayward.

"Smart people know which balls to play and which overs to ride."

The Stags are sitting below first-placed Otago Volts on the table after three matches with eight points each but an inferior average.

The point-less Aces are dead last but have only played one game.

Clarkson might get a couple of overs tomorrow but Malan said only last year the teenager was grappling with back problems so they were easing his load as a batsman who can bowl. "We want to have a fitness standard for him not just for CD but the Black Caps."

The bowling attack looks sharp with Andrew Mathieson and Adam Milne while opening batsman George Worker is equally adept in keeping batsmen in check with his spin.