Rance Red Star?s biggest threat

Greytown are in the box seat going into their Wairarapa Cricket Association Bidwell Cup grand final match with Red Star at Queen Elizabeth Park oval in Masterton tomorrow and Sunday.
As top seeds the southerners only need to avoid an outright defeat to take the title, which means any interruption by inclement weather is likely to be in their favour as well.
On that basis Greytown could be excused for abandoning their usual attacking approach with bat and ball with the idea of meandering along and forcing Red Star to task risks in their desperation to pick up the 20 wickets they will require to snare the trophy.
It will surprise, however, if Greytown demonstrate any sign of negativity in their play as their batsmen, in particular, are much more comfortable when scoring at a hectic five or six runs an over, and the adoption of different tactics could therefore be more in Red Star's favour than their own.
The superb form shown by talented Greytown all-rounder Seth Rance right through this club season has been well documented in pre-match publicity this week and it is fair to comment that he looms as Red Star's biggest individual threat .
Wisely Greytown are batting Rance up the order at number four so that his propensity to hammer the boundary on a regular basis can be given full rein and his ability to engender a fair degree of pace from the most placid of pitches means he is guaranteed to take the new ball when they come to bowl.
It would be wrong though to assume that Rance is a one-man band in either department.
The return of former Central Districts B player Mark Childs to the fold undoubtedly strengthens Greytown's batting order and he will almost certainly open, the position he had when he paved the way for his team's six wicket win over Stars in a recent Umpires Cup match. Then Childs scored 68 in such rapid fashion that when his wicket fell the Greytown total stood at 71!
Greytown will also be anticipating big things with the bat from two experienced campaigners in Willie Tatham and Josh Doherty, both of whom have played often for Wairarapa in the past, and also Paul Lyttle, who has been in majestic form of late and who has similar hitting power to Rance and Childs when in full stride.
Throw in another couple of handy performers in Dean Southey and skipper Duncan Didsbury and it's easy to understand why Greytown have appealed as the strongest batting side in the Bidwell Cup series?and by some distance as well.
The arrival of South African Loki Uys towards the latter part of the club season has boosted Greytown's already useful bowling resources. He provides their main spinning option and with the park oval pitch prone to take some turn on the second day of a match he could have a handy workload then.
Rance will obviously spearhead the pace attack and is just as obviously the main danger to Stars with ball in hand but Greytown are well off for bowlers in the seam and swing department. Current Wairarapa rep Ewan Burt, Southey, Doherty and Brian James are all able to do a job for them there.
Red Star, for their part, can match Greytown for depth in bowling but none of their batsmen have managed to reach three figures this season and they will be relying heavily on their top order to shine in that area of the game.
If anything skipper Shay O'Gorman will have an embarrassment of riches at the bowling crease and it will be interesting to see his tactical approach there.
Will he depend on medium pacers Jarrod Watt, Carwyn Caffell, Willie Thomson and Peter Sigvertsen to do the damage or will he look to his three spinners, Aaron Wilson, Kyle Williamson and O'Gorman himself, to keep Greytown's considerable batting stocks under wraps.? The onus to keep Red Star in the match from a run-getting viewpoint will fall fairly and squarely on the shoulders of current Wairarapa reps Daniel Stoneley and Joe Hull and the two Burlings, Troy and Corey. If at least a couple of them don't fire on all cylinders then Stars could be in trouble and you can wager Rance and company will be well aware of that.
Interesting too will be the decision made by the captain who happens to win the toss. The likelihood of the pitch providing some assistance to the quicker bowlers early on could encourage them to field first but in Greytown's case, in particular, they might fancy their prospect of having a bat and scoring enough runs to place even more pressure on the Red Star batting order.
All in all a fascinating contest looks in store with Greytown clearly assuming favouritism but Red Star having what could be labelled a "good outsiders" chance of providing an upset.