Wairau face final trophy hurdle

BY DAVID DAWKINS

Wairau are out to ensure the Kelvin Scoble Cricket Trophy remains in Marlborough hands when they meet Stoke Nayland at Horton Park on Sunday.

The two sides clash in the final of the Nelson-Marlborough one-day competition on the No1 ground from 11am, with Wairau out to secure a hat-trick of titles for Marlborough teams.

Wairau were the inaugural winners in the 2007-08 season while Marlborough Academy took the title last season.

Wairau have been in sublime form, dropping just one Twenty20 match this season, but captain Vaughan Harris said the team was determined to keep performing through the business end of the season.

"This competition was a big one to win for us a couple of years ago and it's one we target each year.

"It's just so hard to win because you pretty much have to go through pool play unbeaten just to make the final."

Wairau achieved that and also finished as top qualifier to earn the home final, something Harris said was a big advantage. Wairau will also be near full strength for the final, with only batsman Martyn Vercoe in doubt after breaking a finger at training this week.

Wairau will line up with Marlborough reps Geoff Barnett, Bryce Smith, Andrew McCaa and Cleighten Cornelius.

Stoke-Nayland won't have the same luxury with three key performers sidelined.

Batsmen Paul Capstick and Mark Douglas are both out of action, Capstick with a calf injury and Douglas still to shake off the groin complaint that ruled him out of last Sunday's representative Newman Shield match with Marlborough.

Seamer Dylan Eginton is also out of action after a recent ankle operation. Capstick in particular will be a big loss, with the experienced Nelson representative batsman amassing 721 runs at the impressive average of 80.11 this season.

Despite the trio's absence, Stoke Nayland will still field a strong team including four players – Ben Homan, Ryan Edwards, Peter Younghusband and Mitchell Drummond – who played in the Newman Shield match. They will be boosted by the return of batsmen Alex Coles and Todd Marwick from university.

The two teams are familiar foes in the combined competition, meeting in round-robin play each of the last two seasons, with a win apiece.

Harris said if Wairau were to win on Sunday a solid batting effort was the key.

"We need to keep wickets in hand through the middle overs. If we can get to late in the innings with only two or three wickets down then we can have a real crack in the power play and add 50 or 60 runs.

"Keeping those wickets will be key to getting a good score."

Before Wairau can turn their attention to Stoke Nayland, they have to overcome Marlborough Academy in a Marlborough one-day semifinal tomorrow.

Wairau topped the local round robin but are in the unusual position that if they lose tomorrow they will be knocked out of the final by an Academy team that failed to win a round-robin game.

Wairau have named the same 12 for the semis and Sunday's final. Academy will field a strong bowling line-up, with Josh Tautari replacing Gus Bishell from last weekend's team.

He joins Ben Blackman, Chris Pope, Ben Wheeler, Gareth Weaver and Mark Gear in the pace attack, while Celtic Pogues call-in Rikki Bovey provides a spin option.

Two Pogues players – Tom Argyle and Reuben Kepes – will also line up for the Celtic seniors in their semifinal against Wairau Valley. They replace Jackson Pearce and Nick Allen.

Valley line up without big hitting Simon Muir and fellow batsman Gavin Morrison.

Both semis begin at 12pm.

Second and third-grade senior cricket also play semifinals tomorrow.

Kelvin Scoble final teams:

Wairau: Vaughan Harris, Geoff Barnett, Martyn Vercoe, Andrew McCaa, Bryce Smith, Cleighten Cornelius, Colin Wood, Marty Campbell, George Millar, Wade Cornelius, Matthew Dodds, Greg Logan.

Stoke Nayland: Dwayne Valentine, Peter Younghusband, Ryan Yates, Ryan Edwards, Alex Coles, Ben Homan, Mitchell Drummond, Vincent Kilmore, Ben Gully, Darius Skeaping, Nathan Todd.

- The Marlborough Express