CricSim Herald Rossleigh Trophy - Round One Previews By Chris Warrington England v Celtic Provinces McGrath, Logan, Morris, Verigotta, Deane, Nova, Hornby, Dyer, Martyn, Ridd, Howe Thornton, du Toit, Morgan, C Laing, Furball, Short, Raftery, Orr, James, McDougal, S Laing The two British sides meet in the first round of the Rossleigh Trophy this season, in what could be an enthralling contest given the form of the two teams. The Celtic Provinces team looks very different to the one that lost by 238 runs in their last and only meeting with England. Rookie opener Os du Toit is brought in to open alongside old hand JP Thornton, with bowlers Paddy Orr and Andrew James also bolstering what would otherwise be a very weak side. Siege Morgan will be hoping that he can reverse his Horrigan Cup form by returning to his favoured no. 3 spot, he really needs to turn up if the Celts are to have a chance given their weak middle order. The English make a few changes to a team who finished second in this competition last season. Several may be disappointed to learn that allrounder Marcuss Deane moves up the order to accommodate young seamers Geraint Martyn and Chad Dyer. Those two, alongside Jonny Ridd and Jake Howe, form a very menacing pace battery and are bound to win games by themselves this season. Simon Nova and Ben Hornby complete the batting, although like much of this team, have underperformed this season. But even the most underperforming of English sides are odds on to beat the Celtic Provinces, and the Herald sees no reason why England won't take the victory in this fixture. A fifty run/five wicket win should be expected. NSW City v NSW Country Cribb, Burridge, Lewis, Parker, Flack, Popovic, O'Neill, Jacobs, Hunt, Welker, Crowley Speirs, Read, Delonge, Herd, Fung, O'Driscoll, Hughes, Rask, Tyson, Taylor, Emm Last season's champions NSW Country start their one day season with a trip to local rivals NSW City. Last season's encounter resulted in a very tight win for City, and we could easily have another close finish on our hands this time around. City's openers are in good shape in club cricket, but this is the first time that Cribb and Burridge have batted together in the shorter format. It's hard to find many weaknesses in City, and that is shown by how the players have all been able to keep their places despite challenges from fringe players. One player looking to make an impact on the rivals is allrounder Scott Flack. Along with batting at no.5, Flack will be sharing the new ball with Dave Crowley in a team that is otherwise dominated by spinners. Country also have a strong spin attack playing, comprised of Ben Taylor, Hache Emm, Benny Read and Dave Speirs. The performance of the spinners will be important for either side, but maybe Country have a bit less to worry about with pace bowler Luke Tyson playing. Tyson comes into this match in a fine run of form for the Gamblers, plus it's hard to forget his impressive performances in this competition last season. The batting also looks to be good, and Country will be looking to Tom Delonge to lead from the front with bat in hand. At the end of the day, it's hard to separate these two teams, and anything could happen if players stand up and make the difference. However the Herald predicts a close win for Country, with Parker providing a solid resistance for City. Queensland v Asia Quilty, Vago, Manera, Gemmell, Perry, Volavola, Ryabovol, Faithful, Funkotron, King, Man Himann, Farhat, Lee, Chewie, Dong, Evans, Chowdhuri, Das, Narang, Chung, Ikram Two mid-table teams meet first up in a match that could be decided by each team's middle order - something that seems to be a strong point for both of them. Asia took this fixture by three wickets last time, but you could argue that they've only got stronger since then. It's hard to deny that Asia don't bat deep. There are recognized batsmen all the way down to Narang at no.9, who usually opens in the longer format. The find of young keeper Clayton Evans could tip the odds, especially given his performances to date for the Stingrays. Supple Dong has also impressed so far, but he has the extra responsibility of leading the bowling attack along with teammate Michael Chung. This exposes a real problem for the Asian side, as part-timers Jono Chewie, Ishan Narang and Ali Farhat will be expected to act like frontline bowlers, even though they barely bowl for their respective clubs. This leaves a huge task for Chung and Zohaib Ikram, the only two who can be described as bowlers. Bowling may not be an issue for Queensland though. They will play five specialist bowlers, assisted by Mate Perry if need be. Each bowler has already excelled domestically, so taking all ten wickets should not be a problem for the Queensland side. However batting may become a problem if they start slowly, but the strong, big hitting middle order is capable of rescuing matches. Brett Gemmell has dominated domestic one day cricket this season, and Mate Perry has found an effective role as a finisher near the end of the innings. If those two get going against the weak Asian bowling, it could get nasty. It's hard not to predict a Queensland win here, and that's exactly what the Herald thinks of this fixture. Queensland to win after a quick ton from Perry, and Evans being stranded for Asia after making a fifty in the chase. Victoria v New Zealand Scott, Bannerman, Harding, Alessi, Son, Hall, Masters, Storer, Boy, Eggman, Diggler Bakkum, Jackson, Heads, Martyn, Phlegm, Dorn, Howell, Weaver, Davis, Ritchie, Hutchinson This fixture is likely to be all one way traffic, the might of last season's finalists could be too much for Victoria. The Victorians are missing cult hero keeper Jake Taylor through injury for this match, who has been replaced by Rabbit Boy. The Victorians shouldn't worry about this however, as Boy has performed well this season in the Horrigan Plate and will hopefully not be required to do much batting from the no.9 spot. His catching however, could prove problematic. Dave Eggman as always leads the bowling attack, with support from Dirk Diggler. Pressure will be mounted on Alistair Son as the sole spinner in the team with competition for spin places hotting up, but Son will also need to put runs on the board if Victoria are to have any chance of winning this fixture. New Zealand come into the game very relaxed, with a strong team. Perhaps the weakest point is the opening pair. Whilst dominating, Bakkum has been in second grade all season, and Jackson hasn't made too many runs in first grade. Luckily from there the rest of the players have had good seasons so far. Regan Hutchinson's good form has been rewarded with a starting spot, and could wreck havoc amongst the Victorian batsmen as he did earlier this week against the Pumas. But if anything is to go wrong with the bowling, John Heads is an ample stand in to bowl a couple of overs, having bowled plenty of overs for his club. The Herald sees a massive seven wicket win coming for New Zealand, after a five wicket haul for Gareth Weaver.
What makes it worse is that Zohaib has been rubbish in LA cricket. It's so fucked. I've bowled 2 overs all season for the Ravens but open the bowling in both FC and LA for Asia, Chung is the only one who averages under 30 (just) and we have two batting all rounders bowling at the death. Ridiculous. Really hope Turb gets active and turns out to be a good player, desperately need him.
