Round 3 - Crusaders v Cyclones at The Castle (completed)

Crusaders v Cyclones

Ames, Retzel, Heads, Miokovic, Perry, Warrington, Clough, Immanuel†, Ridd, Ritchie*, Wilson

Farhat, Narang, Gonzalez, Masters, Morris*†, Man, Hurricane, Hunt, Jacobs, Martyn, Edwards

Week C begins with the Cyclones venturing to The Castle to face the Crusaders. The Clones will be eager to get a win on the board, having lost their only game of the season - although in doing so they showed that they might not be the cellar dwellers people have labelled them. Coming up against the Pumas, a top two-predicted side, they managed to hold their own for three out of four innings. Now, they meet the Crusaders - a side branded last week by Robert Cribb as 'legitimate title contenders' after nearly beating the Vipers at their home ground; in fact, they needed 71 to win with 5 wickets in hand and managed to collapse. The Crusaders will be looking to build on this performance and prove it was not a fluke.

In selection news, the Crusaders go in unchanged with what has become their default balance: 3 bowlers, 3 batting allrounders and 5 batsmen. Have they left themselves a genuine bowler short? Perhaps, while the Cyclones have made one change, with Nigel Hunt coming in for James McDougal. This is an understandable move given that The Castle will support spin from day one, while it also lengthens their batting lineup on a deteriorating Castle wicket. The interesting part of this selection is that it shows that Gimh Martyn is ahead of James McDougal in the pecking order. This writer thinks that this might be a bit of a rash decision, given the relative lack of experience Martyn has.

Joshua Ritchie is one that readers should keep their eyes peeled for - he'll be bowling on a pitch that is bound to help him from day one and against a batting lineup that, Ishan Narang and Eddie Morris excepted, is ageing and may be lacking in concentration - or at least the concentration required to pick the subtle variations Ritchie has become so famed for. Michael Edwards is another to watch. Rumours coming from the Cyclone camp indicate that he's trained the house down since he arrived for the new season and this might pay dividends on the field.

The Herald predicts an innings and 34 run win to the Crusaders, with Ritchie taking 9 for the match and Ridd 6, while Martyn will flounder with the ball.