Cricket's appeal depletes side

NUMBERS DOWN: Scott Burgess says a decent chunk of North Force's team won't be on deck this weekend. PHOTO/FILE

North Force will head to Auckland today for a pre-season jaunt against the East Coast Bays Development team as part of the opening Joma pre-season tournament round.

However North Force player/coach Scott Burgess admits the lure of today's Cricket World Cup thriller has hampered North Force's efforts to field their best line-up.

"Out of our current squad, 15 are going down to play at QBE, 17 are unavailable and six to seven of us are going to the cricket.

"Luckily our squad size is good so if we can continue to manage 37 players, we'll be doing well."

Burgess says the team selected consists of mainly younger players, so "it'll be interesting to see how they go".

The 11th running of the four-week men's and women's Joma pre-season tournaments will begin with nine of the 13 games being played at QBE Stadium in Auckland.

The men's winners from last season, Takapuna, have a tough away assignment against Premier side Waitakere City at Fred Taylor Park as they look to defend the Keegan Williams Trophy.

The young North Force contingent will face a tough task today, but Burgess says he's looking forward to having home field advantage in next weekend's round when his side take on Hibiscus Coast in Kamo.

-Men's Northern Joma pre-season tournament

Today, in Auckland

Pool A: 2pm: Glenfield Rovers v Hibiscus Coast (QBE); 2pm: North Force v East Coast Bays Development (QBE).

Pool B: 1pm: Waitakere City v Takapuna (Fred Taylor Park); 4pm: Te Atatu v Bay Olympic (QBE).

The North Force Reserves will play Mt Roskill Grammar, 12pm at QBE Stadium.