Ashburton College’s Angus Jemmett is one of three new faces in the Mid Canterbury cricket team for this weekend’s annual clash with South Canterbury. Photo Robyn HoodThree young cricketers will make their Mid Canterbury senior debuts in this weekend’s annual Ron Biggar Memorial Trophy clash with South Canterbury in Timaru.

Angus Jemmett, Tom Middleton and Devon Flannery are the three new faces in a Mid Canterbury team that will head to Aorangi Oval with a bit of confidence, hopeful that their blend of youth and experience will get the job done.

One player who won’t be there though, is Matt Winter.

The past captain and wicket keeper is focusing on coaching rugby sevens at the moment, so is unavailable, and while Mid Canterbury coach Garfield Charles said Winter will be missed, he has confidence in the 12 players selected for the first game.

James Southby will take over the captaincy while William Southby will don the keeping gloves, and Charles said all 12 players will feature in some way tomorrow due to different rules pre-season.

“You bat 11 and you bowl 11, but all 12 can play,” Charles said.

This season is a bit different for Mid Canterbury, with Mid Canterbury Cricket’s Saturday afternoon senior cricket grade no more, two teams playing in the Canterbury Country senior grade, and the rest playing in a mid-week shortened version of the game, which will start next week.

“What it has made harder is the fact that the local guys that we are picking from are mainly playing T20 cricket, and we’ve got to pick guys to play two days,” Charles said.

Also making Mid Canterbury’s life harder this year will be the fact that, due to its unpredictability, the pitch at the Ashburton Domain oval is being redone, putting it out of action for the summer.

So Mid Canterbury’s home Hawke Cup games this season will be played at Timaru’s Aorangi Oval – the venue for tomorrow’s game – and while they’ll have to travel, they’ll at least have consistency, Charles said.

Mid Canterbury’s Hawke Cup campaign for 2019/20 will begin in Timaru against South Canterbury on December 7 and 8, and Charles said he’s excited to see what his side is potentially capable of this season.

“We might be short on bowlers.

“We’ve got Richard (Turpie) and Deon (Biggs) playing, and Jay Houston, but a lot of the bowlers are out injured or unavailable,” Charles said.

“So we might be short of a gallop, but Tom Middleton is a useful addition, and so is Angus Jemmett.”

Middleton is a strong opening bowler, while Jemmett is a handy off-spin option and along with Flannery, the three youngsters will be keen to make the most of the opportunity they’ve been given.

Mid Canterbury is without the services of three other potential young players this weekend, in the form of Archie Redfern, Harry McMillan and Ben Innes.

The three locals all attend school in Christchurch, where Redfern’s Christchurch Boys’ High School side is this weekend up against Innes and McMillan’s St Andrews College team in a Gillette Cup semi-final.

They’re likely to come into the mix as the season goes on, though, and Charles is hopeful there will be real competition for spots as the season progresses.

After tomorrow’s game – which gets under way at 10.30am – Mid Canterbury will head to Rangiora to play Canterbury Country in another pre-season match next weekend.

The Mid Canterbury team is:

Deon Biggs, Devon Flannery, Nick Gilbert, Bo Houston, Jay Houston, Angus Jemmett, Des Kruger, Tom Middleton, Tom Ravenscroft, James Southby, William Southby, Richard Turpie.

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 1 November 2019