Import? may spark reps

Wairarapa have "imported" a player from Wellington for their senior men's cricket match with a Hawkes Bay XI at Nelson Park, Napier on Sunday.
Jay Newdick, a 20-year-old all-rounder from the Taita club, has been brought into the side by selector Dick Kendall and if he performs up to expectations he could become a regular in the Wairarapa squad for their intensive Hawke Cup programme, which kicks off with a match against Wanganui next weekend.
Newdick, a son of former long-time Wellington rep Graeme Newdick, is a top order batsman and medium pace bowler who has repped for Wellington himself on numerous occasions at age group levels.
He is a club-mate of last season's Wairarapa captain John Peters, who is being rested from Sunday's match but looks the logical choice as skipper for the Hawke Cup games.
Kendall described Newdick as a "strong lad who has the ability to play a leading role with both bat and ball" and is optimistic of him adding important depth to the Wairarapa team in the two departments.
"He has the raw potential to be very useful for us, and that's why he is there," he said.
Kendall was unhappy with the overall batting effort of his Wairarapa squad in a "friendly" against a Horowhenua XI last weekend, and is keen for them to show far greater application on Sunday.
Indications are that hard-hitting Lansdowne player Henry Cameron will open with Wairarapa College's Cameron Stone and they will both be aware of the need to score heavily to keep out the challenge of the Academy's Eddie Hopkins who made 51 in the opening role in the Horowhenua match.
Like Peters, Hopkins is being rested on Sunday so as to give other "fringe" players an opportunity to prove their worth.
Compounding the "who will open" issue is the injury suffered by the reliable Sam Curtis from Lansdowne in a club game last weekend. He fractured an ankle and could be sidelined for some weeks.
In the "fringe player" category in this Sunday's line-up would be Aaron Bidlake of Lansdowne and Will Rist of Academy, both of whom have the capabilities to claim a top order batting spot, Academy 'keeper Andy Roberts and Rathkeale youngster Andy Dodd.
All-rounder Ngatai Walker will captain Wairarapa in Napier, and is the obvious choice as Peters' understudy for the Hawke Cup matches.
He can bat anywhere in the order and adds strength to the spinning department in which Rathkeale's Simon Clinton-Butler could be the star act.
Of the quicker bowlers playing on Sunday Hayden Spierling (Greytown) is seemingly assured of a Hawke Cup berth, but both Dougie Bracewell from Rathkeale and Ben Hodder, a Chanel College student who plays for Greytown, still have something to prove.
They are probably in competition with Wairarapa College medium pacer Seth Rance, who grabbed four wickets in the Horowhenua match, but was not available for this weekend's game.
Kendall will name his team for the Hawke Cup opener against Wanganui after training next Wednesday and already knows he will have to make several changes for the following game against Nelson as the Rathkeale players will not be available for that match.
UMPIRE'S CUP
Lansdowne will be looking to consolidate their lead in the Wairarapa Cricket Association's Umpires Cup senior inter-club competition when they play Academy at the Pugh Sportsbowl tomorrow.
While they may not have the bowling depth of some of the other sides Lansdowne do have a powerful batting line-up and it was that aspect of their game which saw them defeat Greytown last weekend.
Players like Henry Cameron, Ngaitai Walker and Chris Jefferies have the capabilities to take any club attack apart in double quick time and the Academy will need to get all of them cheaply to stay in the race.
Greytown have yet to notch an Umpire's Cup win this season but they should have the "wood" on Red Star in their game at the Park Oval.
The southerners would have been disappointed with their batting effort against Lansdowne with a number of their better players losing their wickets through rash shots rather than good bowling by the opposition.
They do though appear to have a clear edge over Stars in both batting and bowling and that should produce a comfortable enough victory.
The two colleges, Rathkeale and Wairarapa, are scheduled to meet at Rathkeale and this will be an interesting tussle.
Rathkeale have built the higher profile in recent weeks through their magnificent effort to make the semi-finals of the Gillette Cup national secondary schoolboys limited-overs competition and on that basis they would have to start firm favourites.
In Wairarapa College's favour though is that matches between the two colleges generally bring out the best in them, and it would be no surprise to see them still right in the fight at the business end of proceedings.