The Wairarapa Cricket Association have postponed the start of their 2004-05 senior inter-club season by one day .
They will now kick off with a series of 20-20 matches on Sunday so as to allow players and officials to attend Saturday's NPC third division rugby semi-final match between Wairarapa-Bush and Mid-Canterbury
at Memorial Park, Masterton.
The 20-20 games are a new innovation for Wairarapa and allow for teams to bat for no more than 20 overs.
They will see the first appearance on the club scene of the Bracewell Academy XI which, as the name suggests, will mainly comprise players involved at the special training facility operating at Rathkeale College under the guidance of former New Zealand pace bowler Brendan Bracewell. Several overseas players are likely to be part of that team as the season progresses.
It will be the Rathkeale College first XI who will square up to the Academy on Sunday while other matches will see Greytown playing Red Star on the artificial wicket at Makoura College and Lansdowne up against Wairarapa College on the Park Sportsground No.3 artificial wicket.