CRICKET - Rain may wreck Northland hopes

THE desire for a result against Hamilton, combined with bad weather hanging over the North Island, seems likely to cause Northland cricketers some level of frustration this weekend.
The provincial representative team need to beat front-runners Hamilton in a two-day match at Galloway Park, Hamilton, to maintain their chances of challenging Taranaki for the Hawke Cup later in the season.
But it is also a great opportunity for revenge after a subdued Northland were defeated by Hamilton by six wickets in a one-day match at Cobham Oval last Sunday.
"If we don't get down there or we don't win _ then we're relying on someone else to beat them and the whole result will be out of our hands," Northland co-selector Ross Kneebone said.
The side must lift against Hamilton if they want to rebound from Sunday's loss.
"Hamilton are the benchmark of the competition and we need to get stuck into them," he said.
Kneebone admitted the weather forecast wasn't too promising.
"It's not looking all that great, they're getting heavy rain and they haven't even got any covers on the wicket at the moment.
"They've come out with some lame excuse about the under-14s (ND age-group tournament) playing there but they won't be playing in the rain either; another reason I heard was that they [the covers] were locked up in a room - it doesn't really sound like they want to play, does it?"
Hamilton cricket spokesman Rupert Hodgson said they hoped Northland would get a venue to play on.
"We've had some problems putting the covers on but we're hoping that because the wickets were so dry before that we can still get some cricket this weekend," Hodgson said yesterday.
If tomorrow's play is abandoned the fixture could turn into a one-day match on Sunday - which could be a good scenario for points-hungry Northland.
Perhaps with the wicket in mind, Kneebone has brought in another spinner, Will Smart, to bolster the attack. The left-arm orthodox bowler will complement the right-arm offspin of Bledisloe teammate Andy Thompson but wasn't expecting the call-up at practise on Wednesday.
"I was a bit surprised, to be honest; Tommo had mentioned the possibility of a second spinner but I didn't get my hopes up, so it was a nice little surprise to get my name read out," he said.
The 23-year-old said if the Hamilton pitch wasn't saturated, it should suit his bowling. Smart's addition shouldn't weaken the batting, the debutant batting high up in the middle order for Bledisloe.
"I'm enjoying batting at the moment and went all right in the nets on Wednesday night, so hopefully I'll get a chance in the middle order," he said.
The only other change to last Sunday's line-up is the promotion of Rhys Farrand to open the innings. Thompson moves down to the middle order.
Harry Darkins drops into the Northland second XI for their one-day match against Hamilton, scheduled for Hamilton on Sunday.
* THE TEAMS:
Northland: Rhys Farrand, Brad Chard, Jamie Lee, Stephen John, Ben Cochrane (capt), Bert Horner, Chris Page, Andy Thompson, Will Smart, Dan Robinson, Josh Matthews, Jason Morgan.
Hamilton: Anton Devcich, Ryan Shutte, Sam McLeod, Grant Robinson, Brook Hatwell, Lance Martin, Keir Bettley, Mike Dodunski, Brett Jowsey, Nathan Daley, Ainsley Robson, Andrew Mathieson.