Representative batsman Jordan Lawrence will play his first match for the season as St Michaels hunt for their maiden win.
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The Saints have lost both one-day matches this season but are looking to turn things around against South Wagga at Geoff Lawson Oval on Saturday.
Captain-coach Ryan Forsyth doesn’t believe the side is far off.
“We’re just not there yet with the things we are trying to do,” Forsyth said.
“Both weeks we’ve come up against sides who are obviously going well.
“Colts didn’t make the T20 finals but have won two on the trot and we’ve come up against sides who have been better than us at the times who count.”
Things don’t get any easier with a clash against a Blues outfit who have had a draw with Wagga City before the big win over Wagga RSL last week.
Forsyth expects they will be a big challenge however he remains confident they can turn things around.
“I’m still very positive about where we are at,” Forsyth said.
“It is just a matter of starting off with a win, getting the ball rolling and getting our players back.”
Forsyth wants to “up the standard” bowling and in the field.
He hopes the return of Jordan Lawrence will add some spark to the batting order after they failed to go on a post a big score against Kooringal Colts last week.
“He’s got work commitments that are stopping him from playing every week, but he has committed to playing the year,” Forsyth said.
“He’ll add a bit to our team this week.”
Lawrence in one of two changes to the side.
Aidan Ridley and Nick Fahey are both unavailable.
There are a number of players still not available, including James Elliott and Tom Byrnes, but Forsyth doesn’t want to rely on another late charge to make finals like they did last season.
“We are really keen to turn things around,” he said.
“We made a slow start last year and managed to climb our way up the ladder, but we just want to get our first win up on the board.”
Meanwhile South Wagga will be without Brayden Ambler, Jeremy Rowe and Darcy Irvine for the clash.
Ambler is away on Riverina representative duties while Irvine, who took three wickets last week, is with Northern Riverina under 16s.
Adam Skow, Nathanael Mooney and Dave White come into the team.
Captain Joel Robinson is looking to continue to build their momentum after a big win over Wagga RSL last week.
“We want another win to keep our momentum,” Robinson said.
“We definitely showed some improvement last week, which was good, and we want to make sure we keep improving.”