Dry up to his old tricks ahead of final

And so the chat begins.

Karori v Eastern Suburbs, it's the dream Pearce Cup final and one that Lance Dry has already livened up.

Captain of an Easts side that will be chasing an astonishing 10th straight title, when the three-day final begins at the Basin Reserve this Saturday, Dry couldn't resist starting the week with a wee flick at both Karori and Cricket Wellington.

Despite being lucky to escape with a draw from their two-day round-robin clash with Karori, which concluded on Saturday, Easts would be the last team they wanted to play in the final, he said.

"I think they'll say they're glad, but I don't think they'll really be that glad," dry said yesterday. "I think [Saturday] will be a real disappointment to them. They would have liked to have walked away having taken the Cook Shield off us, by beating us outright, and having also excluded us from the final. "Neither happened, so we take a little bit of joy out of that."

And perhaps a little more of a psychological edge too.

"The team they're going to have for the final will be 80 or 90 per cent of the same guys that rolled over in the final last year and we're similar in that regard," Dry said.

While Karori have been the team of the season, leading the standings and collecting Twenty20 and one-day trophies along the way, Easts have been ordinary.

Mid-table at Christmas, the defending champs needed the weather and some stout Taita batting against Naenae to sneak them into the decider.

Dry reckoned injuries had hampered his team of late, prompting him to float Jayde Herrick's name as a potential ring-in for Saturday.

A Victorian second XI player, Herrick was flown in to play for Wellington in comparable circumstances earlier this season.

"We'll have a look offshore and see what Herrick is doing. No, unfortunately the rules preclude that sort of carry-on."

Having caused Cricket Wellington to change the player eligibility standards after he tried bringing in Sydney's Steven Spoljaric a couple of finals ago, Dry is well aware that's not allowed.

In all seriousness, Dry said his team would have to improve immensely to compete with Karori and he acknowledged the hand that luck had played in getting them to this point.

"If Taita had fallen over, we were a goneburger."

As were Hutt District, who were confirmed as the team relegated to the Hazlett Trophy. The retired Matthew Bell came to their aid but it wasn't enough. They will be replaced in 2011-12 by Hazlett-winners Upper Hutt.

- © Fairfax NZ News