Marist team to beat in premier cricket

CRICKET:Wanganui's cricket season starts tomorrow ? weather permitting ? on good-looking wickets at Victoria Park.
Saracens has the bye for the first round of two-day matches.
Here the Chronicle previews the squads in the two premier matches and lists Saracens' starting line-up for its friendly match with Collegiate.
Saracens will be previewed in more depth later.
Marist looks full of runs, United is certainly stronger allround, and both school teams should be the better for experience of last season.
But if one had to pick a likely dominant team at this stage, it would have to be Marist. Here's a quick look at the four squads.
MARIST
The club has picked up leg-spinner Nathan Clark and allrounder Mark Fraser from Athletic.
Fraser will open the batting for the club, allowing skipper Heath Chittenden to drop into a more preferred middle order batting position.
"The obvious return of Mark Parsons is a real boost for the club," Chittenden says.
"And one of the most exciting prospects for the club is the return to cricket of Stephen Baker, an excellent former representative cricketer who played for Taranaki in the golden years of the U-Bix Cup. He will provide real stability an attacking batting line-up." There's also the possible introduction of Graham Dawson from England, a cricketer who is breaking into the Cumbria minor country side.
He's due on November 4 if his trip goes ahead. Chittenden says Brett Turner, a former Hawera United player, will open the attack and is a very large hitter.
The club has also enlisted a professional coach.
"The insertion of Dilan Raj as a technical advisor as set forth an attempt to provide a sense of professionalism and this has already started to pay off as in a warm-up game against Hawera United where we thrashed them by seven wickets," Chittenden said.
Losses this year - Andrew Campbell to shoulder injury and other commitments, Lee Pollard who has decided to stay in England after suffering a severe ankle injury in England in the last season.
"The club is looking to build on its consistent form over the past two years, have a better start to the season and hopefully win the two-day competition which eluded them this year." Squad: Heath Chittenden (capt), Stephen Baker (vice-capt), Mark Parsons (vice-capt), Mark Fraser, Nathan Clarke, Pete Kinnerly, Gareth Edlin, Greg Chisholm, Jared Bourke, Ian Bartrum, Dominic Vettise, Brett Turner, Owen Edmunds, Alister Quinn, Graham Dawson, Kim Whiteman.
COLLEGIATE
Wanganui Collegiate Cricket go into the season facing the usual challenges of school-based teams in that there is a change of personnel as leavers are replaced by younger less experienced players mid-season.
In the short-term they are in a stronger position than most club teams in that the team remains intact and by the maturing process are likely to be stronger than last season.
The Willie Lyons-captained team (he returns next year ) has, in addition to the club programme, major inter-school matches with Christ's College (two-day match at Labour Weekend in Wanganui) and one-day matches with Rathkeale (Masterton a week later ) and a home Gillette quarter-final with Palmerston North Boys High School on Wednesday, November 3.
Collegiate will be looking to batsmen Sean Lance, Gareth Jones, Willie Lyons Fraser Middleton and Ben Orton.
Much interest surrounds the performances of leading batsman Orton.
In term one he became the first Collegiate batsman to score 1000 runs in a term which included a record four centuries.
He needs to score a further 150 runs to set the Collegiate record over a calendar year.
Hamish Reid again will open the bowling attack with Guy Bryden and the pacy Gareth Jones in support.
UNITED
Returning from last year: Gerard Hobbs, James Birchall, Jamie Whiteman, Ben Campion, Lyndsay Hobbs, Robert Rodgers, Andrew Cording, Ben Odering, Neil Kirkwood and schoolboy Hayden Hollaway. Still to come back from England: David McMurray.
To return from university: Hayden Walker, Tom Lance and maybe Byron Gill from last year's Athletic.
Possibly returning from retirement: Offspinner Blair Jarrett. The captaincy is still yet to be decided but the squad has had a few training runs and is eager to get started into the season.
With the rep season being a lot later this year United is keen to make a greater impact in the two-day competition this year, says spokesman Neil Kirkwood.
"With the one-day stuff it is just a matter of making the semis and then playing well from there. And we have a few younger members that we are yet to see at training but are keen to see if they are possible players who could be blooded into a very experienced line-up."
HIGH SCHOOL
Warren Marr coaches again, with Dilan Raj also helping High School. Marr expects ? and indeed is confident ? that High School win gain the win that narrowly escaped it last season, and then hopes for better.
"The boys have had a season there now and know what it's all about. They've come through the winter bigger and stronger and they should be the better for that," Marr said.
"They will not have an adult with them this season so they will have to front up."
Batsman/off-spinner Dominic Carroll captains, and the team is very similar to the one that ended last season.
But there is hope that the expected England student recruit from Yorkshire, Tom Leeming will boost the team's strength.
He's due next week.
The squad is: Dominic Carroll, opening bats Hamish Don and Tyler Byers, Luke and Germaine Rurawhe, Joh Tweed, opening downwind bowler Korie Paio, left-armer Phillip Don, wicketkeeper Max Carroll, Latham Berry, Jordan Baldwin and relative newcomers Adam Watkins and Christopher Maguire ? as well as Leeming.
SARACENS
The squad for Saracens Cricket Club premier side for the first game: Dominic Rayner (capt), Darren Grant (v/c), Matt Beavan, Andrew Barnett, Graeme Burnand, Brent Cunningham, Jarred Calkin, Roy Brown, Carey Tasker, Steve Lewis, Jono Rayner, James Linklater, Jeremy Davidson and one other.