Robin James takes on three-prong job

Lansdowne all-rounder Robin James is set to play a huge part in the fortunes of the Wairarapa senior men's cricket team this season.
James, 33, pictured right, has been appointed to the positions of coach and captain, and will also be part of a three-man selection panel with former New Zealand pace bowler Brendon Bracewell and Dick Kendall.
It's a huge undertaking for one person, but James, who has played 98 games for the Wairarapa seniors since making his debut in the early 1990's, is looking forward to the challenge.
"I'm really excited about what lies ahead????I know it won't be easy, but the enthusiasm amongst the players seems to be there already and that's a good starting point, isn't it.?"
James takes over the coaching role from Kendall who stood down from the position because of the pressure of other commitments.
He had already accepted Kendall's offer of captaincy and isn't fazed by the responsibility of being coach as well.
"I've had a lot out of Wairarapa cricket over the years and this is a chance to give something back," James said..
"And it's not as if I'll be doing everything on my own???.with the likes of Brendon and Dick there won't be any shortage of back-up either."
While the loss of several members of last season's Wairarapa squad naturally means that the 2006-07 line-up will be short on experience, James isn't about to dwell on that situation, or use it as an excuse for failure.
"Every team goes through a period where they lose senior players and you simply have to bring in new talent and trust them to do the job," James said.
"You don't gain anything by worrying about who is not available."
In any case James is enthusiastic about the number of promising players in the Wairarapa area, who he believes have the potential to step up to senior rep level and make a decent fist of it.
"You only have to look at the youngsters who are making their mark in senior club play, there's a lot of raw talent there," he said. "And it's not as if all the experienced players are gone, there are still a few of them around too."
On what he has seen so far James is "very optimistic" that Wairarapa will shape up well in the bowling department and the middle to lower order batting, but the age old problem of lacking depth in the top order batting still seems to be there.
"We've struggled to get any continuity in that area for a long time now, and it seems like we might have to be a bit innovative there again," he said.
Wairarapa are set to play five matches in the Hawke Cup elimination series this season, the first of them against Nelson early next month. Also in their section are Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Horowhenua-Kapiti and Manawatu.
James admits all five games will test the all-round abilities of Wairarapa, but he sees no reason why they can't claim at least some scalps along the way.
"The element of surprise will be on our side," he said. "The opposition won't know a lot about us, and will probably under-rate us, and that's an ideal position to be in. If we play it smart we could be the dark horses, no doubt about that."