CRICKET - Morgan keen to make his mark on debut for North

Jason Morgan has been more of a scholar than a cricketer recently but an injury, combined with a good performance last week, has given him the opportunity to play his first full game for Northland in the vital clash against Hamilton this Sunday at Cobham Oval.
Morgan makes his first Northland senior appearance as one of two possible changes to the team that gave the province such a flying start to the Brian Dunning one-day competition in Taupo.
The 22-year-old was selected as 12th man for Northland previously, when he was a Whangarei Boys' High student, but is relishing the first chance of playing this weekend.
"I was pretty stoked to get the call-up. It was a bit of a surprise but hopefully I can just continue the form I've been showing recently for my club," Morgan said.
"I've been in pretty good form with the ball recently but my batting hasn't really been too good but I had a bit of a bat last weekend and it came off for me finally," he said.
Morgan's 90 runs, combined with two wickets, in the losing match for the Northland development side against Bay of Plenty on Sunday did enough to turn the selectors' heads.
Northland are unbeaten, like Hamilton, in the competition to date and this game is brewing as a pivotal match in the competition.
Morgan has moved north again after completing a commerce degree at Otago University and is under no illusions about the difficulty of the challenge on Sunday.
"Sounds like they'll have quite a sharp team but it will be good to play a few of my old mates that I made playing for Northern Districts age-group teams - I haven't played them for a while and I'm sure they'll be surprised to see me," Morgan said.
Opening bowler Steve Schwartfeger is out with a recurring foot injury, while opening batsman Brad Wilson's availability is questionable, with Northern Districts still to name its team for the State Championship match against CD in Hamilton on Monday.
Kamo opener Rhys Farrand is on standby for the match if Wilson is unavailable.
Morgan will bowl at first change on Sunday with left-armer Stephen John opening the bowling attack wth Dan Robinson.
John, Onerahi's Pakistani professional, was called into the side for the third of the one-day matches at Taupo against Bay of Plenty and replaces batsman Qasim Sheikh as the side's overseas player.
Northland co-selector Ross Kneebone is looking forward to an exciting match.
"It should be a great encounter, Hamilton have got a few fringe Northern Districts players and so have we," Kneebone said.
"The outcome of this week is important because then we will turn around the following week and play Hamilton in a two-day match... so the next two weeks should let us know exactly where we are this season."
The new format of this season's ND interdistrict competition also makes the encounter a big one in regard to the Hawke Cup Challenge, with Hamilton and Northland already seen as the two teams in competition to challenge holders Taranaki later in the season.