Wanganui coach Stuart Gillespie will be looking closely at his bowling options when a 14-man representative squad goes through its paces tomorrow.
The team are away to Horowhenua-Kapiti in a Hawke Cup clash on January 15-16 - a game they must win to progress in the competition.
That means bowling the opposition out twice, something Gillespie admits Wanganui have had problems doing in recent matches.
"We need to win and we haven't played well in the last couple of games, so we'll be having a look at a couple of young bowlers in practice," he said.
Brought into the training squad are United left-arm quick Ross Dickison and Marist right-arm medium-pacer Ross Kinnerley, though Gillespie only expects one of them to play.
Also included is leg-spinner Dom Lock, who is just back from overseas, while a doubt remains over the fitness of spin king Tom Lance who injured his back in the warm-up before the Taranaki match.
On the plus side, young batsman Ben Smith is off Central Districts duty and available and due some runs.
United all-rounder Dom Carroll and Marist pace bowler Brett Turner have been left out of the squad. The team will be named next week.
Wanganui training squad: Ben Smith, Max Carroll, Mark Parsons, Tom Lance, Andrew McCaa, Henry Collier, Hamish Wells, Dom Rayner, Chris Stewart, Nick Blundell, Ross Dickison, Dom Lock, Ross Kinnerley, Mark Fraser.
Meanwhile, Cricket Wanganui's festival starts today - weather permitting.
The under-12s gather at Collegiate but yesterday organiser Dilan Raj was concerned about wet outfields both at the school and at the alternative artificial wickets at Springvale and Wanganui High School.
The under-12 competition, which runs till Friday, will be followed next week by the under-13s at Collegiate and the girls competition taking place at Victoria Park.
January 16 sees the start of the four-day under-16 development tournament at Victoria Park, and the under-11s at Collegiate.