Warriors bank on pride and passion

CHEVROLET Warriors coach Piet Botha is expecting his troops to play with pride and passion against the Highveld Lions in a Sunfoil Series match starting at Axxess St George's today (10am).

The Warriors, despite showing some positive signs, have endured a tough season.

They have only managed eight wins in 27 matches across all three formats of the game and will be desperate to turn that around on familiar soil this weekend with a determined performance.

"It can get tough," Botha said about not winning. "But as long as you've got that pride and passion and you've got a couple of goals you want to achieve, that's what you need to focus on."

The last time the Warriors played a Sunfoil Series game in Port Elizabeth was just before Christmas and that resulted in a convincing triumph for the Warriors over the Titans.

"We had a good game against the Titans. We also had a fairly decent start after the first four games and we needed to kick on in the second half, but unfortunately we haven't been at our best.

"But we do realise the areas in which we need to improve on. Our goal for the next three games is to improve on the things we spoke about and commit to those. If we can do that, hopefully we can get some wins under the belt. We need some wins."

Their task has been made that much tougher with the suspension of the competition's leading wicket-taker, offspinner Simon Harmer.

"In four-day cricket it's all about having the correct depth in certain areas. If there's a player [missing] in a key area there's not always someone to fall back on to replace that guy. You may be able to do it in certain areas but not all areas."

Jon-Jon Smuts has been drafted in from the provincial side and he will perform the duel role of batsman-spinner.

"Harmer is a blow to us because he's bowled a lot of overs and he controls the game for us. It's probably going to be expected of Jon-Jon to do the same, which will be a challenge for him, but I'm sure he'll come through because he did well in the 50 over campaign for us and hopefully he can feed off those successes," Botha said.

Ashwell Prince will continue to captain in place of wicketkeeper-batsman Davy Jacobs who also missed the last game in East London due to a toe injury.

The Lions will be buoyed by the return of test opener Alviro Petersen which is bound to solidify a top order that misfired last week. The Lions were bowled out for 121 in their first innings by the Knights last week and, although it ultimately had little effect as the rain guaranteed a draw, captain Stephen Cook said they were all too aware of their shortcomings.

Petersen's return should help, even if Cook feels that the title is probably beyond the Lions now.

"Looking at this log now, the Cobras are a long way ahead of us – they're 30-odd points ahead," he said.

"There is still a possibility – mathematically we could still win it – but it's getting less likely.

"The guys have got three games now to the end of the season to stake their claims so there should be no lack of motivation in the camp."

The Warriors squad is: Michael Price, David White, Colin Ackermann, Ashwell Prince (capt), Ryan Bailey, Colin Ingram, Jon-Jon Smuts, Athi Dyili (w/k), Andrew Birch, Rusty Theron, Basheer Walters, Vuyisa Makhaphela

ýIn other matches starting today, the Dolphins take on the Titans in Benoni and the Knights host the Cobras in Kimberley. -