Cricket: Depth key for Hopkins to vanquish Cantabrians

Gareth Hopkins knows that the margin for error for spinners at Pukekura Park is microscopic. Photo / Getty Images

Small boundaries and seam-friendly Pukekura Park could see Bartlett introduced to playing XI

It almost bends captain Gareth Hopkins' mind thinking how Auckland Cricket will try to keep hold of the talent it has assembled in the province.

The feature of Auckland's success this season has been their ability to shuffle players in and out of the squad without altering the way they have played.

Now they're just 100 more good overs from a domestic limited overs double.

Last month they beat Canterbury in the final of the Twenty20 HRV Cup and tomorrow they face Central Districts in New Plymouth in the final of the 50-over Ford Trophy.

There are likely to be just four players involved in both finals, indicating that Auckland not only have a great gameplan, but enviable depth.

That was a line they were parroting after their thrashing of Otago in the preliminary final, where talented underachiever Anaru Kitchen and journeyman veteran Neal Parlane combined to humiliate the southerners' attack.

Parlane said he had noticed a lot more depth in Auckland club cricket than he had in Wellington, especially in the batting department.

Some of that he puts down to the "muck" wickets in the nation's capital, but he remained staggered that a guy like Tim McIntosh was but a fringe player.

Former test opener McIntosh has been added to the 12 who faced Otago.

No one was more keen to push the enviable depth line than Hopkins.

As a keeper-batsman he might have slipped down the international pecking order, perhaps even unfairly, but as a leader at domestic level his record is unimpeachable.

He knows that the past two months have acted as a shop window for major associations looking to bolster their depth for next season.

There are players on his team who he believed would be playing regularly across all three forms should they be playing in another province.

"That will be the biggest problem in the winter, keeping all these guys happy," Hopkins said.

That's in the future; his immediate thoughts will turn to Pukekura Park, where Auckland have had their share of difficulties in the recent past.

The picturesque ground presents its share of problems for captains.

Hopkins relied on his spinners - Bruce Martin, Bhupinder Singh and Kitchen - to stymie Otago's bigbats, but the postage-stamp boundaries mean miscues often go the distance.

With class acts like Jamie How and Mathew Sinclair in the CD lineup, the margin for error for spinners is microscopic.

"It's a little more seam friendly at Pukekura Park," conceded Hopkins.

That could see seamer Dean Bartlett come into the 11 at the expense of either Martin or Bhupinder.

The squad

Auckland (from): Bradley Cachopa, Jeet Raval, Tim McIntosh, Neal Parlane, Anaru Kitchen, Colin Munro, Dusan Hakaraia, Mitchell McClenaghan, Bruce Martin, Bhupinder Singh, Chris Martin, Dean Bartlett.