Patience could be key to strong performance

Patience could be the key to a strong Wairarapa performance in their Hawke Cup qualifying cricket match with Taranaki at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval in Masterton today and tomorrow.
As the current Hawke Cup holders Taranaki went into the game as firm favourites but a young Wairarapa side full of exciting stroke makers on the batting front and an attack which is very useful in both the pace and spinning departments certainly has the potential to make a nuisance of themselves.
So while it will be important that the Wairarapa batsmen are prepared to go for their shots when the opportunity presents itself it will be equally important that occupying the crease for long periods is a prime objective.
For that to happen, however, the odds are that the Wairarapa batsmen, in particular, may have to curb their enthusiasm to at least some degree if enough runs are to be scored to give them any chance of putting Taranaki to the sword.
This is simply because Taranaki have a bowling line-up which clearly understands the importance of line and length and which will be quick to capitalise on any looseness in the Wairarapa batting approach.
So while it will be important that the Wairarapa batsmen are prepared to go for their shots when the opportunity presents itself it will be equally important that occupying the crease for long periods is a prime objective.
The fact that openers Sam Curtis and Brad Edwards, first drop Willie Tatham and No.4 Chad Yates all got amongst the runs in the previous Hawke Cup qualifier against a Manawatu side which actually beat Taranaki in an earlier game was heartening news for Wairarapa as the top order batting has been a problem area for some time now.
They will be doing their side a huge favour this weekend if they stay at the wicket long enough to take the shine off the new ball so that the bigger hitters like Seth Rance and Brock Price can play their natural game later in the innings.
It will be interesting to see which of the Wairarapa 12 is not required to bat in this game as all of the squad are actually capable of making an impact in this area.
With the Hawke Cup rules allowing for a player to bowl but not bat and vice versa it might well be Hayden Spierling who misses out so as to allow the paceman to be completely fresh for his bowling stint.
If that is the case the "tail end Charlie" position could be filled by either all-rounder Dean van Deventer or new wicketkeeper Duncan Didsbury, both of whom are hardly "mugs" with the bat in hand. Indeed a fair argument could be made for having van Deventer, in particular, batting at six or seven, such is his efficiency in that department.
No Wairarapa bowler will have a bigger incentive to star in this game than Seth Rance who must have been very close to making the Central Districts A side to play their Wellington counterparts in Masterton from Tuesday through to Thursday next week.
As a pace bowler he will be well aware that injuries and quicker bowlers seem to go hand in hand these days and that, consequently, an impressive effort this weekend could see him propelled into the CD A's at short notice.
Sunday will see the Chapple Cup one-day fixture between Wairarapa and Taranaki also at the Park Oval with Wairarapa fielding the same squad as for the Hawke Cup match.
Here too the home team will be the underdogs but with the outcome of limited-overs cricket often decided by one or two brilliant individual performances a Wairarapa victory certainly can't be discounted. In fact, the make-up of the side suggests they should be better suited to this form of the game than the longer version although results to date have not supported that contention.
Club games
Two matches in the Umpires Cup senior men's inter-club competition will be played tomorrow with Greytown up against Lansdowne at Greytown and Academy taking on Wairarapa College at Rathkeale College.
The form book suggests that Greytown might have edge over Lansdowne although the loss of key bowlers Seth Rance and Hayden Spierling will undoubtedly hurt the southerners to some degree.
Wairarapa College actually beat Greytown last weekend thanks to a fine knock by Sam Curtis but he will be missing from the Academy game and that should be enough to give Academy the edge, providing, of course, they are able to field a side anywhere near the strength of that which made them such a force before the Christmas break.