Otago is fresh, strong and confident it can embark on a push to win its first domestic four-day title in 22 years.
The Volts get back into whites after two months of limited-overs cricket when they play Central Districts in a Plunket Shield match starting in Invercargill today.
It has been 16 days since Otago last played any form of cricket but captain Craig Cumming does not expect his side to have rusted up.
"It's been quite nice, actually.
"We'd have loved to have been in the one-day semifinals but the guys have had a chance to freshen up," Cumming said yesterday.
"For us, it's been a long season, especially with going to India before the season started.
"We've had an opportunity to get mentally fresh and train specifically for four-day cricket."
Otago is third in the Plunket Shield after a half-season of two halves.
It started with two losses and a draw, then had two good outright wins against Wellington and Auckland.
Cumming said the long break between first-class games made it difficult to get on a roll but he felt the Volts would still be confident going back into the four-day game.
"I think we would have had momentum if we hadn't had two months off from four-day cricket.
"In the past, we've probably gone into this stage of the season feeling a bit tired, mentally and physically.
Winning has been a problem for us in four-day cricket in the past but we gained a lot of confidence out of those wins earlier in the season.
"We've got guys with experience, guys who are in good form, and guys who are taking wickets and scoring runs.
"Four-day cricket is about scoring big hundreds and we've shown we can score those."
Otago is left with just the Plunket Shield to chase as it bids to win a third trophy in consecutive summers.
The Volts won one-day (2007-08) and twenty/20 (2008-09) titles to break a long barren run but failed to make the final of either competition this summer.
"The twenty/20 hurt the most.
"We felt we were good enough to win it and to just miss out on the final through run rate was pretty hard to take.
"That took a while to get over, especially personally.
"We should have made the top four in the one-day competition but we didn't play well enough.
"We had numerous personnel changes and guys in new roles.
"Once we worked things out, we showed what we could do."
Otago welcomes back former Black Caps opening batsman Aaron Redmond for his first appearance in the Plunket Shield this season.
The Volts will confirm their playing XI this morning, with either Anthony Bullick or James McMillan likely to be carrying the drinks.
New Zealand Under-19 cricketer Doug Bracewell has returned to the Central Districts side, while Jeremy Kuru also returns.
Pace bowler Mitchell McClenaghan is still unavailable due to injury, but Brendon Diamanti will play his first Plunket Shield match of the season, after being injured in the early rounds.
Otago v Central
Invercargill, today until Sunday
Otago: Craig Cumming (captain), Nick Beard, Derek de Boorder, Neil Broom, Anthony Bullick, Shaun Haig, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Aaron Redmond, Greg Todd, Neil Wagner, Sam Wells.
Central: Jamie How (captain), Doug Bracewell, Brendon Diamanti, Bevan Griggs, Jeremy Kuru, Michael Mason, Brad Patton, Seth Rance, Mathew Sinclair, Ewen Thompson, Tim Weston, George Worker.
