Local talent will be mixing it with the best of them today and tomorrow at the Queen Elizabeth Park cricket pitch. Wairarapa College old girl Esther Lanser is back in town to play two national league series with the Central Hinds. The Hinds began a three-day series against the Auckland Hearts yesterdaywith the first of two one-day matches. The second in the series is scheduled for today at 10:30am, followed by a Twenty20 game on Thursday. On January 3 the Hinds' series against the Otago Sparks will begin with a Twenty20 match, followed by two one-dayers. Lanser said having the team playing in Masterton was a great opportunity for young cricket enthusiasts to see a top class team play. Going into the series the Hinds were at the top of the Twenty20 points table and third on the one-day table with the Hearts close behind both positions. "We've got this awesome array of talent here in the Wairarapa and people need to get down and see it. If there are any young cricketers in the area they should come down and watch," Lanser said. The Hinds team includes four New Zealand White Ferns; captain Aimee Watkins, bowler Abby Burrows, and batters Rachel Priest and Sara McGlashan, as well as New Zealand's youngest national women's player, 13-year-old Maneka Singh. Singh, from Hastings, made her national debut December 11 against Canterbury in Christchurch. Lanser said she was excited to be able to play in Masterton, and the series should be a good competition, because the teams were quite closely matched. "We want to stay on the top of the table, and we are here to win at the end of the day." Lanser said she is still a relative newcomer to the team with the games this week being her tenth and eleventh one-day matches for the Hinds. But she has been in good form recently, scoring 63 runs for her maiden half century on December 4, against the Northern Spirit in Whangarei. Despite spending her earlier cricketing years in Masterton Lanser said she has never played at Queen Elizabeth Park before, and is looking forward to the matches. "I'll be looking to score some runs here on my home ground."
