Special Mole Report: One Day Places Hot Up

One Day Places Hot Up



While the five-day New South Wales team seems all but settled after their Provincial Championship victory, there has been much speculation and debate over the make-up of the one-day team to take part in the Rossleigh Trophy. Many believe that those who have proven themselves for New South Wales in First Class cricket should be given the first opportunity while others believe that performances in the domestic one-day competition - the Horrigan Cup - should act alone in determining the final team.

The CricSim Mole can exclusively reveal that those with proven track records at provincial level can expect to make their one-day debuts for New South Wales in Round 1 of the Rossleigh Trophy... as long as their performances in the Horrigan Cup have been acceptable. Essentially this means that - whilst in some cases they've been outplayed by their rivals in one day cricket - Juan Gonzalez, Duck Lewis, Jack Dempsey, Alan Parker, Luke Tyson, Scott Wilson and Ted Bullpitt are all but certainties to be picked. However, Matt Hayes is at very long odds to be picked from reserve grade while Scott Flack and Sam Green face uphill battles to be selected.

The decision that will spark the most interest, however, will be the one regarding current New South Wales captain Dan Speirs. Speirs has always stood up in rep games, saving his best performances for New South Wales while always commanding the respect of the players as a leader. If you combine this with his excellent Season 7 Horrigan Cup campaign with both bat and ball you'll think he'd be the first name on the team sheet, but his performances this season tell a different story. Despite being in supreme form in the Bannerman Shield five-day competition, both his batting and bowling this season against full-strength one-day teams have been extremely disappointing. He's often got his team off to a slow start before throwing his wicket away in desperation and his normally frugal bowling has proven to be extremely hittable on the flatter pitches. Sources close to the Blues selectors have informed us that unless he produces a significant innings in the last three rounds of the Horrigan Cup, he is set to be a shock omission from the team with spinner Scott Wilson assuming the captaincy.

Should all this come to fruition, four positions in the team would remain to be filled purely on the weight of Horrigan Cup performances. There are numerous candidates for the three batting places with Ben Read, John Thornton, Dave Armstrong, Ben Herd, Rob Cribb and Keith Jones all pushing their claims, while the first change bowler's place is likely to go John Wilkinson or Dave Crowley.

 

I was actually going to release this through the Herald, but they're taking their time for whatever reason and this story will probably be cold soon. I'll be releasing other stories through the Herald if I get more info.