Cricket: Smith, Bell, still danger men in Shell Trophy

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Beware Ben Smith and Matthew Bell could well be the catch-cry for the Northern Districts and Canterbury teams as they head into the first day of seventh-round Shell Trophy matches today.

Smith and Bell were the dominating batsmen in the first half of the season, with runs flowing almost at will. But when they failed in last week's sixth round, so did their Central Districts and Wellington teams - beaten outright inside two days by Auckland and Northern respectively.

Northern captain Robbie Hart, though buoyed by the crushing win over Wellington, knows today's game in Napier offers a real challenge.

"Ben Smith got runs against us in Taupo," Hart said. "He is too good a batsman not to score runs again.

"But we have to take plenty of confidence into the game because it was a really solid performance - both batting and bowling - against Wellington."

Central have dropped opening batsman Joseph Hill, and medium-pace bowler Gareth West failed a fitness test.

Jamie How, 12th man against Auckland in Palmerston North, stays in the squad, joined by allrounder Sanjeewa Silva - who has yet to play first-class cricket - and promising pace bowler Andrew Schwass.

"We were very disappointed at what happened in Palmerston North," Central coach Dipak Patel said.

Auckland have made one change to their winning side for the match against pacesetters Otago at Carisbrook, with specialist wicketkeeper Reece Young replacing Black Cap call-up Lou Vincent.

Auckland, eight points adrift in fourth place, will be keen to take points against a team likely to be unchanged.

Wellington have pitched Black Caps reject Andrew Penn into their side in place of Carl Bulfin for their game against an unchanged Canterbury side at Christchurch's Village Green.

Canterbury need success in this match to claw their way off the foot of the table.

Points: Otago 20, ND, Wellington 18, Auckland 12, CD 8, Canterbury 4.

Central Districts v Northern Districts, McLean Park, Napier.

Central Districts: David Kelly, Ben Smith, Craig Spearman, Glen Sulzberger, Sanjeewa Silva, Jamie How, Mark Douglas, Martyn Sigley, Ewen Thompson, Brent Hefford, Tim Anderson, Andrew Schwass.

Northern Districts: Michael Parlane, James Marshall, Mark Bailey, Mathew Hart, Grant Bradburn, Hamish Marshall, Robbie Hart, Joseph Yovich, Alex Tait, Simon Doull, Bruce Martin, Graeme Aldridge.

Canterbury v Wellington, Village Green, Christchurch.

Canterbury: Gary Stead, Harley James, Robbie Frew, Jarrod Englefield, Michael Papps, Aaron Redmond, Gareth Hopkins, Stephen Cunis, Marcel McKenzie, Carl Anderson, Wade Cornelius, Ryan Burson.

Wellington: Matthew Bell, Richard Jones, Selwyn Blackmore, Grant Donaldson, Stephen Mather, Chris Nevin, Mayu Pasupati, Mark Jefferson, Jeetan Patel, Iain O'Brien, Mark Gillespie, Andrew Penn.

Otago v Auckland, Carisbrook, Dunedin.

Otago: Matt Horne, Mark Richardson, Martyn Croy, Craig Cumming, Chris Gaffaney, Andrew Hore, Nathan McCullum, Warren McSkimming, Craig Pryor, David Sewell, Kerry Walmsley, Paul Wiseman.

Auckland: Tim McIntosh, John Aiken, Richard King, Dion Nash, Blair Pocock, Kyle Mills, Tama Canning, Andre Adams, Reece Young, Brooke Walker, Chris Drum, Mark Haslam.