Greytown will be warm favourites to beat Red Star in their Bidwell Cup one innings senior men's cricket fixture at Queen Elizabeth Park oval in Masterton tomorrow.
The southerners did have a hiccup when they lost to Rathkeale College last weekend but, considering they were without several of their key playerswho were on duty with the Wairarapa reps in Palmerston North, that result was hardly a surprise.
One of those players was ace all-rounder Seth Rance and he will be missing again tomorrow as he has been drafted into the Central Stags side for their four-day fixture against an Auckland team including former Wairarapa skipper Greg Todd, who has transferred north from Otago.
Not having to face Rance will, of course, be music to the ears of a Red Star batting line-up which has struggled all season but, with the likes of medium pacer Blake Lyford and spinners Steve Coleman and Nash Patel sure to get through a heavy workload, Greytown will still be well served in the bowling department.
Red Star do have the advantage of having played on the oval pitch last Saturday, when they were beaten by Lansdowne.
There did appear to be a useful amount of turn at times and, in Shay O'Gorman and Aaron Wilson, Red Star have a couple of experienced spinners capable of exploiting it to the fullest extent.
Their battles with Greytown batsmen such as Paul Lyttle, Tim Lucas and Mark Childs, who all like to get on with the job, should provide some entertaining fare.
Wairarapa College and Rathkeale College will do battle at Wairarapa College.
They have both had their moments this season, with Wairarapa College perhaps looking the more complete unit of the two, but smart punters would keep their money in the pocket on this one.
First round matches in the More FM Cup Twenty20 competition will be played next Wednesday, starting at 5.15pm. Wairarapa College and Lansdowne will meet at Wairarapa College and Rathkeale will host Red Star. We will tip wins for Lansdowne and Red Star, just for argument's sake.
