Hawke Cup holder North Otago will play its first elimination match against South Canterbury this weekend at Aorangi Oval.
North Otago is missing four of the team that took the Hawke Cup from Manawatu last season, with Chris Smith back in England, Scott Simpson in Australia, Darren Broom playing for Otago and Dave Simpson given time to ease back into cricket after winning the Meads Cup with the North Otago rugby team.
New faces in the XI are Mitchell Clarke, Matt Machan and former Otago batsman Sean Eathorne, while opening bowler Chris Ware returns to the side.
Machan (19), who has represented England at age-group level and has first-class experience with Sussex, is player-coach of the Waitaki Boys' High School First XI. He has been joined by countryman Mitchell Clarke, who plays for the Union club and is adept at keeping and with the bat.
South Canterbury's strength will be built around the form of Craig Davies and captain Dan Laming, while Sam Carlaw, a left-arm spinner, and Srinivas K S, the Timaru all-rounder, are expected to bowl lengthy spells when the Aorangi Oval pitch flattens out.
The start of the season has not been a happy one for North Otago chief executive Peter Cameron because of the late change in rules over the eligibility of players.
"Last year, a district or association could only play two players who were not eligible to play for New Zealand, and a player could only play for one district or association," Cameron said.
"This year this was changed to say that no district or association could play more than one player who was not eligible to play for New Zealand, but players could qualify to play through being born, living, working or playing in the district or as a student returning home for the holidays."
Cameron believes if North Otago had not won the Hawke Cup, the issue would not have arisen.
He said North Otago had planned its cup defence for six months and had always planned to bring the Englishmen into the district. New Zealand Cricket had this week approved dispensation for their selection.
NORTH OTAGO v SOUTH CANTERBURY
- Timaru, starting today
• North Otago: Sean Eathorne (captain), Ben Cant, Glynn Cameron, Mitchell Clarke, Duncan Drew, Jordan Horrell, Matt Machan, Paul O'Dell, Jeremiah Shields, David Sewell, Chris Ware.
• South Canterbury: Dan Laming (captain), Sam Carlaw, Craig Davies, Craig Hinton, James Laming, Jeremy Liddy, Glenn Matthews, Alex McKenzie, Richard Preston, Srinivas K S, Kevin Teahen.
- Terry O'Neill