Borren takes Wairarapa captaincy

Netherlands skipper Peter Borren has been promoted to captain of the Wairarapa senior men's cricket team for their Hawke Cup qualifying match at Queen Elizabeth Park oval in Masterton this weekend.

Borren takes over the reins from fellow Central Stag Greg Todd, who is unavailable because he is attending a wedding out of the region.

The last time Todd was absent, Mark Childs was appointed to the captaincy but it was Childs who suggested to selector-coach Mark Brown that Borren should take charge on this occasion.

"He (Borren) has huge experience at the top levels of the game and there was general agreement that he was the obvious choice for the job," Brown said.

"He now has a good idea of what the players around him are capable of and I'm sure he will get the best out of them."

Borren missed Wairarapa's most recent Hawke Cup fixture, which produced a first-innings win over Manawatu, and being a star performer with bat and ball makes him the ideal replacement for Todd, who was such a commanding all-round presence in that fixture

The only other change from that Manawatu game is the dropping of young Wairarapa College spinner Martin Reisima, not because of any failings on his part but because of the return to the representative scene of experienced paceman Seth Rance after a lengthy injury break.

Rance is likely to open the bowling with Dean van Deventer and the depth of the medium pace attack is evidenced by Daniel Ingham, Ben Foster and Josh Mann all being on deck as well.

The loss of Reisima does weaken the spin side of things to some degree, with that responsibility falling on the shoulders of the Lansdowne duo Jamie Holmes and Matt Stringfellow who, incidentally, are also vital components in the batting department.

Having just the two spinners isn't worrying Brown as he believes the park oval pitch won't be a turner, that it will play more into the hands of those who rely on seam and swing.

The composition of the Hawke's Bay side was unclear when these notes were penned but they have clearly had the better of Wairarapa in Hawke Cup fixtures over the years and Brown is expecting another difficult assignment.

And, to that end, Brown says the first objective for his side will be to obtain the seven points on offer for a first innings lead rather than going all out for the outright win.

"Not too many of these games are won outright, those first innings points are vital," Brown said.