Eastern Suburbs coach and former one day and Test international Michael Bevan, has selected a side jam-packed full of Sydney first grade cricketers ahead of their first pre-season match of the 2015-16 season.
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Easts finished in the semi-finals of their limited overs competition last season and will dust off the cobwebs when they meet reigning country champions Western Zone at Cowra's Twigg Oval on Saturday.
Bevan described this weekend as an ideal opportunity for his side to get some outdoor game time under their belt before the Sydney club's season kickstarts on September 27.
"All the guys coming are first graders, two or three are unavailable but everyone coming is in contention this season," Easts coach Michael Bevan said.
"At this point in time I guess it is a warm-up match.?For me as a coach it's about getting the players to focus on things that they'll benefit from in the first game.
"If everyone's getting something out of this game I'll be happy," he said.
Easts has dealt with stages of transition during the past few years but Bevan holds little concern identifying Greg Clarence, Ian Moran and Adam Ezekiel as the Sydney club's leaders, Matt Condon as the exciting youngster and Tas Yazdani and Condobolin junior Sandy Rogers as his two strike bowlers.
They have also recruited well, signing St George duo Simon Chu and Daniel Magin.
"We have a number of first grade stalwarts, Greg Clarence, Ian Moran and Adam Ezekiel," Bevan said.
"Matt Condon has a bit of talent, he had a good season... he's an exciting player.
"Tas Yazdani, he's played first grade for many years and Sandy Rogers played first grade in Tasmania and was on the fringes of first-class, so they're the types of players [Bevan's looking forward to watching]."
This is the first time Easts have made the trip out west and the coach admitted he had "zero" idea of what his opposition would deliver but he did say he expects to face a reasonably strong side that would offer Easts a competitive pre-season hit out.
New Western Zone skipper Nick Berry - who played cricket in Cowra until the age of 21 - had a career with Eastern Suburbs where he played 150 first grade games.
The match begins at 10am on Saturday at Twigg Oval.
o EASTERN?SUBURBS: Greg Clarence (c), Simon Chu, Matt Condon, Will Eaton, Adam Ezekiel, Daniel Magin, Ian Moran, Sandy Rogers, Daniel Rootes, Nathan Rowe, Tom Skelly, Jono Smith, Tas Yazdani.
