While most of the players involved in this weekend’s Whitney Cup grand final will spend the lead-up worrying about the weather and what effect it will have on the No.1 Oval wicket, Souths all-rounder Will Lindsay has bigger fish to fry.
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Lindsay will miss day one of the two-day fixture due to a family wedding, meaning he is hopeful the Hornets are in a handy position come close of play on Saturday.
In a double blow for Souths, off-spinner Justin Knudsen will also miss the contest against minor premiers RSL-Colts due a wedding, and while it isn’t ideal Lindsay laughs at the selection predicament confronting his skipper Mitch Bower.
“I told Mitch at the start of the season that if we were in the grand final I was away day one, so I suppose we were destined to make it from that time on,” he joked.
“I actually said if they wanted to pick someone to play both days I’d fully understand, but the rules around selections are much looser now than they used to be.
“In the past if you missed one day you missed both, so it’s good that I won’t miss the whole game. I just hope the boys can have a good day one and I can come in and do a job on day two.”
Beaten grand finalists last year, the Hornets meandered through the first half of 2016/17. But since Chirstmas their momentum has built.
Lindsay, who earned selection for NSW Country this season, puts that down to two main factors.
“A lot has been made of Sam Fraser’s passing just before Christmas and how fitting it would be for Mick, Karen and their family if we could win it,” he said.
“And the other thing is that we are really just such good mates. We enjoy the cricket, and we enjoy the banter as well.
“We have a good balance in the squad. Other teams probably don’t like playing against us because we spend a fair bit of time taking the mickey out of each other while we’re fielding but that works and relaxes us all.”
As for the task of beating Colts, Lindsay said the gameplan needs to be simple.
“They play disciplined cricket. They bowl good lines, field well and can bat a day right out,” he said.
“We need to play as well as we did against Macquarie last weekend and be as clinical as we were in that game.”