Renewing momentum in the New Year will hold the key to unlocking the door to success in this season’s Momentum One-Day Cup.
The 2014/15 competition has effectively been sliced in half. The first half – six league matches – will be played in October and then the tournament disappears for 11 weeks before returning in January for the final four league matches and the play-offs and final.
“Playing it over two halves has got a different dynamic, and it’s one that we welcome, it creates excitement,” said Highveld Lions captain Stephen Cook. “You know guys will be looking at that log over Christmas wondering ‘how can we catch the other teams when we go back’.
“When the competition rolls around again in January teams can be in very different situations, there can be injuries, some new call-ups and teams who’ve been struggling now can suddenly be a force again, the team on top can be hanging on (at the end).”
The reasons for ‘splitting’ the competition this summer include, aligning it with the international season – South Africa will tour Australasia later this month and November, while the tournament’s conclusion coincides with the start of the World Cup next February.
“If you win four out of the (first) six (matches) you’ll be pretty near the top,” explained Cook. “When you can control your own destiny, then that leaves you in a good frame of mind, but when you’re starting to look for results from other sides that makes the challenge even harder.”
The World Cup in Australia looms large across this season’s Momentum One-Day Cup. For the most part, the 15-man squad that South Africa will be taking to New Zealand and Australia next week looks like being the group that will head in that same direction next February. However, Andrew Hudson and his panel of selectors would not being doing their jobs properly if they didn’t consider players who were being productive in the domestic competition this summer.
“If you look at the history (of World Cup selections) there are always surprises here and there,” said Robin Peterson, who’s experienced three World Cup tournaments. “Ahead of the last World Cup, it was Faf du Plessis (who was picked) and it has a knack of creating superstars, so lets see what the next surprise is. There is a lot of cricket that is still to be played and if you show good form … form always gets rewarded.”
The tournament kicks off this week at SuperSport Park in Centurion with the Unlimited Titans taking on the Sunfoil Dolphins.
Cook’s Lions will face the Chevrolet Warriors in Potchefstroom on Sunday where the return of experienced hands like Neil McKenzie and Jean Symes will boost a side that struggled in the competition last summer.
“We have a few senior players who will be available from the start of the competition and using them and getting the best out of them will be vital.” - The Star