Youth v experience in Marist v SBHS

OPINION: Marist and Southland Boys' key weapons in their quest to win the Southland club cricket one-day final tomorrow:

MARIST
Experience: Many of the Marist players have played a lot of cricket over the years at both club and Hawke Cup level. Many of them also know what it takes to win a final with a core crop still there from their victory over Metro in 2008.

Shaun Fitzgibbon: The former New Zealand under-19 representative and current Southland Hawke Cup captain has the ability to take a game away from the opposition inside 10 overs if he finds his batting zone.

The spinners: In the form of Jason Milne Marist possess a handy spinner who could tie down the Southland Boys' High School batsman. The pupils generally aren't power hitters and tend to like to use the pace of the ball rather than hit hard. Milne will be backed up by Kent Donaldson as Marist's second spinner.

SBHS
Patience: The pupils seem to have made improvements this year in the way they approach their batting by not trying to rush their innings and waiting for the bad balls that do come at club cricket level. This has been one of the keys to their success to date this season.

Early wickets: Marist's top-order is strong but the Miller St-based boys sometimes do crumble if opposition teams take early wickets. If promising Boys' High opening bowler Jacob Duffy can chip out Fitzgibbon or Donaldson early in the piece they could put Marist under pressure and get a roll on.

Jonathan Homer: The Southland Girls' High schoolteacher is the older head in the team and has the most experience playing at Hawke Cup level and for Otago A. If he fires tomorrow the pupils could post a score that puts the Marist battling lineup under pressure.

PREDICTION

Southland Boys' have done a superb job this season with the youthful side becoming a force in the senior one-day club competition. However, making the top two is likely to be their lot. Marist will go into the game heavy favourite to win the 2009-10 one-day competition and it would be a surprise if they failed to live up to that expectation.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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