The first ball of Southland’s senior club cricket 50-over competition is set to be bowled on Saturday with six teams vying for the prized title.
Logan Savory takes a look at how each of the six teams are shaping up.
APPLEBY Captain: Sam Downing Key players: Kieran Lloyd, Aaron Hart, Connor Hart, Hayden Hart Last season's finish: Runners-up The lowdown: There is a sense of youth and excitement down at Appleby this year.
The club has been provided a big boost with three Southland Boys’ High School pupils - Aaron Hart, Reid Murray and Hunter Cairns , joining the club.
Appleby has also picked Prashant Singh, a promising all-rounder who is studying at the Southern Institute of Technology.
Those new additions have replaced the experienced duo of Clinton Goad and Cam Murphy, who are unlikely to be back for the season, as well as of Dhruval Aery, who has shifted to Dunedin.
There is still plenty of experience within the group with the likes of Jamie Clark and Calum Johnstone, who may have to share the wicket-keeping duties for a good part of the season.
There is plenty of motivation for the team this season, who are looking to go one better than last season after losing the 2021-2022 decider to Invercargill-Old Boys.
MARIST Captain: Jeremy Boyle Key players: Ben McKerchar, Shaun Fitzgibbon, Mitchell Harvey, Ethan Yeo, Jaron Drozdzak.
Last season's finish: Fifth The lowdown: Marist is shaping up well after a disappointing 2021-2022 season.
Jason Milne has returned to the club in a coaching role, helping with both the senior and senior reserve team.
Marist has retained the majority of last year’s squad, although has lost the services of Trevor Burgess and Marty Mckenzie.
Jordie Goodall has put in plenty of work during the off-season to fill the void.
Marist has set its sights on a return to contesting in the finals of the 50-over competition while also targeting the finals of the T20 competition.
INVERCARGILL-OLD BOYS Captain: Liam McWilliam Key players: Blake Buttar-Scurr, Brendan Domigan, Sam Nicholson, Jake Kura, Chris Case.
Last season’s finish: Champions The lowdown: Invercargill-Old Boys will take some beating 2022-2023 as they go about defending the 50-over title it won last season.
Invercargill-Old Boys has built a good culture in recent seasons and with it built a powerful team.
They have batting depth and a strong bowling lineup that includes handy spin options in the form of Sam Nicholson and Jake Kura.
That bowling lineup has been bolstered further for the 2022-23 season with Keegan Russell transferring from the Metro Tigers, while Sam McLachlan has returned after a couple of seasons to add further depth.
Although Amarpreet Singh (overseas) will be a key loss, as will Blake Tempero who has had back surgery.
Invercargill-Old Boys captain Liam McWilliam is aware teams will be targeting them in 2020-2023 with their first priority making the semifinals in both the 50-over and T20 formats.
WAIKOIKOI Captain: Liam McFaul Key Players: Kurt Thompson, Jared McKenzie, Todd Thayer and Glenn Paterson Last season’s finish: Third The lowdown: This season will look a little bit different for the sole country club in Southland’s senior club cricket competition.
Waikoikoi has introduced a couple of new faces from the club’s B team in the form of Josh Peters and Ryan McFaul.
A few of the more senior players in the club - Nathan Howden, Warrack McKenzie and Jamie Chittock , will take a step back for the 2022-2023 season.
Waikoikoi impressed last season by taking out the T20 competition and finishing third in the 50-over format.
It has set its goals high in 2022-2023 in its quest to defend the T20 title and also take out the 50-over competition.
SOUTHLAND BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL Captain: Nick Brown Key Players: Nick Brown, Lachie Riley, Shahen Wijesinghe, Dylan Hawkes Last Season finish: Sixth The lowdown: Southland Boys’ has lost six Year 13 players from last season which is the nature of school cricket.
Although the school has a good group of year 11 and 12 players coming through who will get an opportunity to try to make a mark in the senior club cricket ranks.
While Southland Boys’ High finished sixth in last season’s 50-over competition it was competitive with many tight losses.
The goal this season is to convert some of those close losses into wins.
Those promising players will have plenty of experience and knowledge to tap into with SBHS teachers Hamish Skelt and Mark Billcliff , who both have played a lot of Hawke Cup cricket , taking on player-coach roles this season.
A majority of the squad has just returned from a four-game Australian tour which will put them in good stead for the club season and interschool fixtures later on.
METROPOLITAN TIGERS Captain: Jason Osborne Key players: Jason Osborne, Bruno Burgess, Matt Burgess Last season’s finish: Fourth The lowdown: The search for early season wins could be a battle for Metro with up to five players expected to be missing with players who are away with university exam commitments.
They will also be missing Isaac Fluery for the 2022-2023 season because of injury while another blow is the loss of frontline bowler Keegan Russell who has transferred to Invercargill-Old Boys this season.
A good chunk of Metro’s chances during the 2022-2023 may rest on what veteran all-rounder Jason Osborne can produce.
ROUND ONE (All games to start at 11.30am) Appleby v Metro Tigers at Appleby SBHS 1st XI v Waikoikoi at SBHS Marist v Invercargill-Old Boys at Marist. © 2022 Stuff Limited source