CRICKET - North poster boy really will be Knight in shining armour

For the first time this season, the cricket billboard on the Ruakaka straights will be 100 per cent accurate because Tim Southee will be bowling for Northern Districts in their final match of the season at Cobham Oval.
Northland Cricket's poster boy has been involved sparingly in the Knight's campaign so far this season but his omission from the test side to play India has given him a chance to play a first-class game at his home ground.
The 20-year-old concedes that it was frustrating not to be selected in the test series but he isn't likely to dwell on it for long.
"It's always disappointing not playing for your country and to have to sit back and watch it on TV. Then again, I guess I haven't really been bowling that well and the best thing to do is come back here and take some wickets," he said.
Southee is back in the nets working hard to once again push for a spot in the New Zealand team that will travel to the Twenty20 World Cup in England later in the year.
"Hopefully I can get the bowling up to where it was this time last year ... I've been training with (ND's) Craig Ross and (NZC's) Vaughan Johnson and we've been working on a few things, so hopefully I can put them into place this weekend."
With six other former Northland players in the side and two, Neal Parlane and Matthew Bell, coming up with the Knights' opponents Wellington for the match, it is a fitting statistic to showcase the Northland Cricket Association's prizegiving tonight.
The Northland players will attend the ceremony but first and foremost for them will be to finish their rather unique season on a winning note.
"It's been an inconsistent season for ND with a great one-day campaign but a fairly up and down four-day season and a poor Twenty20 competition, so it's a chance to finish the season on a high note with a win before we start the build-up to next season," Southee said.
Te Ahu Davis comes in to the squad to cover 12th man duties if Brent Arnel is unable to play. Arnel injured a side muscle in the last State Championship match against Auckland. His recovery has been good but he will need to prove his fitness today before taking his place in the side.
The Northland team: James Marshall (capt.), Graeme Aldridge, Brent Arnel, Te Ahu Davis, Peter McGlashan, Hamish Marshall, Bruce Martin, Michael Parlane, Bradley Scott, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Brad Wilson, Joseph Yovich.