Purtell has stormed up the Cricket Albury-Wodonga pecking order by taking 22 wickets at 12.5 this season and will have a vital role to play alongside Lavington's Ryan and Nathan Brown, former Wagga cricketer Cameron Suidgeest and Tallangatta's Fraser Ellis.

"He's been in really good form the the ball," coach Daryl Tuffey said.

"I was going to reward him last year, but the game was forfeited.

"He does a really solid job for a guy who flies under the radar a fair bit.

"He's champing at the bit."

Purtell grabbed 6-28 in a recent match against Belvoir and, along with Ash Borella and Greg Daniel, will have the bonus of playing on his home deck at Bunton Park.

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CAW have suffered several Twenty20 losses to Wagga in recent seasons, but struck back with a victory in the last O'Farrell Cup challenge last year.

Tuffey said his focus was on rewarding in-form players.

"We've got a cracking team in," he said.

"Players like David Farrell have been making a lot of runs.

"I'd rather play the local blokes in O'Farrell Cup as I think it's important to show off our local talent.

"The boys are looking forward to it as they want to finish the rep season off strongly."

Wagga qualified for the final with a 35-run win over CAW Hume in December but CAW are yet to face a challenge after receiving a forfeit from Griffith.

Rain is forecast for Sunday and, if the weather intervenes, CAW will hold the cup over winter as it is the higher ranked side.

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