CRICKET - Batsmen to face pressure situation before selection

The latest round of Whangarei and Districts club cricket on Sunday posed as many questions as it answered for Northland selector Ross Kneebone.
Kneebone said yesterday that he had the majority of positions in the season's first representative team "pencilled in" but would delay naming the team until after a make-up game tomorrow in the hope that it would help clarify a few sticking points.
"There are still a few players I'd like to have another look at, especially to decide whether we'll use one of the (overseas) professionals or not," Kneebone said.
Bledisloe professional Peter Morgan threw his hat into the ring with a stylish 92, helping his side to their first win of the competition this season against Kamo at Cobham Oval. "It was good to see one of the professionals getting a good score but he's a wicketkeeper-batsman and we've already got that position covered," Kneebone said.
Morgan looked odds-on to complete his first century for his new club until Aaron McIntosh pulled off a great catch off his own bowling to send Morgan back to the pavilion.
Bledisloe stalwart Andy Roberts then took over Morgan's role and helped the Northern side to 312 in their 50 overs, with an unbeaten 89 off 59 balls.
Kamo were never in the chase after Qasim Sheikh was run out for 62 and the following middle order collapse saw them lose three more wickets with the score on 127. They were finally dismissed for 202, with Derek Miller taking 3/26 and Andy Thompson 2/42.
Kneebone will test prospective Northland batsmen and bowlers with a single innings at Cobham Oval tomorrow evening.
"We'll set up a match scenario with the batsmen chasing down 250 say, and get the bowlers putting the batsmen under pressure to see how they'll do. If nothing else they'll all get some valuable practise," Kneebone said.
City's top order batsmen will probably benefit from the session after a poor batting display saw them crash to their first loss of the season against Kaipara Flats in their match on Sunday.
Rash shots were the order of the day and another Northland hopeful, Owain Hopkins, was ruing his decision to chase a wide full-toss from Gordon Penney.
"I just about got to it but instead hit it straight to point and that's often the way you go when you need runs _ I can't really buy a score at the moment," Hopkins said.
Penney claimed another good haul of wickets with 3/27 from seven overs, while Brad Wilson chipped in with three lower order wickets as City were dismissed for 100 in the 31st over.
Wilson then scored an unbeaten 57 as Kaipara reached the total, with four down in 27 overs. The Kaipara opening batsman's availability for Northland's first provincial fixture this weekend, at the Brian Dunning one-day tournament in Taupo, is an unexpected bonus for the team. Wilson missed out on selection for the Northern Districts side to play Wellington in the State Championship this week.
Whangarei Boys' High School will have to do without the services of Jamie Lee next weekend as he is one of the certainties for the Northland side. Lee's innings of 98 was another match-winning performance for Boys' High as they beat Onerahi-Central by 60 runs.
The students batted first and reached 216 in 46 overs. In reply, Onerahi's top order all got starts but none could dominate the bowling and their middle and lower order fell apart under the scrutiny of Boys' High's Joseph O'Sullivan, with 3/14 and Henry Cooper with 3/44.