Rathkeale won?t be giving excuses

A lack of match practice will be no excuse for Rathkeale College when they take on Red Star in a vital Umpires Cup limited-overs senior men's cricket match at Rathkeale tomorrow.
The college side warmed up for a game in which both sides have a chance to confirm semi-final spots by playing some 27 hours of cricket over three days lastweekend.
The Gillette Cup elimination game against Paraparaumu College on the Friday was very much a one-horse race with Rathkeale batting first and beating their own Gillette Cup record set against Wairarapa College the previous weekend by scoring a massive 316-4 off 50 overs, a scoring rate of better than six an over.
Andy Oldfield was in dynamic form in smashing 91 off 66 balls while others to get amongst the runs were Simon Clinton-Baker (63 not out), Doug Bracewell 42 and Tom Merriman (24 not out).
Paraparaumu College were also put under the sword by the Rathkeale bowlers who had them all out for a paltry 78. Spearheading the attack was Jason Dondertman whose 6-25 off 10 overs represented his best-ever return for Rathkeale. Clinton-Baker chimed in with 3-16.
The victory took Rathkeale through to the next round of the Gillette Cup where the opposition were to be defending champions Palmerston North Boys High.
A two-day match against St Peters College from Cambridge last Saturday and Sunday saw Rathkeale in a different light with St Peters winning by seven wickets.
Batting first, Rathkeale got away to an ordinary start but fought back to score a respectable 244, thanks in the main to Doug Bracewell 52, Brock Price (48 not out)Simon Clinton-Baker (29) and Jason Dondertman (22).
The St Peters batsmen applied themselves well in their first innings and finished the first day's play on 175-5. They then took advantage of a tiring St Peters attack to declare early on the second day with their score at 257, giving them a lead of 13.
There was little of note in the Rathkeale second innings which ended at 124 and St Peters scored the 111 runs needed for outright victory with just three wickets down.
Red Star go into tomorrow's encounter on the back of an outright defeat at the hands of Lansdowne in the final round of Bidwell Cup matches. They will, however, have taken some confidence from the fact they did actually lead Lansdowne on the first innings and that their record in one-day matches this season is somewhat better than that in the two-day variety.
In opener Daniel Stonely Red Star have one of the more consistent batsmen at club level and a former Rathkeale player in Nick Moorcock has made great strides in the bowling department.
Other Umpire's Cup matches this weekend see Bidwell Cup champions Greytown up against Lansdowne at Queen Elizabeth Park oval and the Academy XI playing Wairarapa College at Wairarapa College.
Greytown have won the Umpires Cup for the last two seasons and will be keen to set up the possibility of a third straight title by taking Lansdowne to the cleaners.
This might not be easy as it sounds, however, for Lansdowne have a bevy of potential match winners in the likes of Robin James, Ngatai Walker, Henry Cameron and Aaron Bidlake and it would only take a couple of them to fire up and anything could happen.
Greytown, for their part, will be wanting a repeat of their second innings batting effort against the Academy XI in the match which decided the Bidwell Cup last weekend. They had to score over 300 runs in 56 overs and did the job in style. Mark Childs hammered 15 fours and two sixes in his 103, Mark Jonas six fours and on six in his 50 and Jimmy Logue four fours in his unbeaten 55.
It was an effort which would have had the Academy XI rueing their decision to declare their own second innings closed at 234-8. Had they batted on the time taken for Greytown to capture the last two wickets might well have been enough for the Academy XI to hang on for a draw, a result which, as it happened, would have seen them share the title with Lansdowne.
It says something for the positiveness of their approach though that the Academy elected to give Greytown a carrot to chase with the idea of dismissing them and winning the competition outright themselves.
Winning the Bidwell Cup at their first attempt would, of course, have been a real feather in the cap of the Academy and with that opportunity gone you can wager they'll be desperate to make amends in the Umpire's Cup.
Wairarapa College are a handy enough unit to test them but anything other than an Academy win in their match would be a huge surprise.