Natal have often in the past prepared green wickets, especially when their visitors come from places like Kimberley where grass is saved for livestock and not for sports and recreation, but captain Dale Benkenstein said yesterday that this would not happen on the weekend.
``Both sides have good bowling attacks. Griquas have got Otis Gibson and three other seamers. All that we'll be asking for is a pitch that has got good carry and does give the quicks some help if they bowl well. There's no sense in producing a green snakepit because that's not the way to play cricket,'' the newly-capped international said.
Minus overcast conditions, Kingsmead has generally provided good batting conditions in the afternoon sessions, but Benkenstein is confident that whatever the weather, Natal will be able to outplay Griquas at home. ``The ball should still move around in the morning and it will be difficult for them coming from the bare pitches in Kimberley. I think we'll still handle it better than them,'' he said.
The frontline Natal attack is likely to consist of three seamers and a spinner.
Slow left-arm spinner Craig Tatton was lured back to Natal from Boland in the close season, but as fate would have it his place in the team is under threat due to the fine form of off-spinner Robbie MacQueen. MacQueen may be the more reliable of the two, but Tatton is more penetrative and he had an excellent run at the end of last season's four-day competition.
The impressive left-arm duo of Gary Gilder and Shaun Adam are certainties, but Lance Klusener will only play if he is able to bowl his full quota of overs.
The international all-rounder bowled for the first time after ankle surgery in Natal B's limited-overs match at the start of the week and, although not operating at full throttle, he picked up three wickets in seven overs with the only side effect being some stiffness.
The other poser for the selection committee is Errol Stewart's fitness. The number three batsman is back in the frame weeks ahead of schedule after fracturing a wrist in mid-October, but whether he is fully fit for four days of the hurly-burly of SuperSport Series cricket will be ascertained by a fitness test on the eve of the game.
The Griquas match ends on Monday with the opening pitch at 9 am each morning.
Natal squad:
Andrew Hudson, Dale Benkenstein, Mark Bruyns, Doug Watson, Errol Stewart, Jonty Rhodes, Lance Klusener, Keith Forde, Shaun Adam, Gary Gilder, Craig Tatton, Robbie MacQueen, Wade Wingfield, Keith Storey, Jannie Dreyer.
Pat Symcox and strike bowler Garth Roe return to the Griquas line-up for the match against Natal.
Griquas squad:
Mickey Arthur, Martyn Gidley, Kepler Wessels (capt), Pieter Barnard, Willie Dry, Loots Bosman, Pat Symcox, Wendell Bossenger, Otis Gibson, Garth Roe, Deon Kruis, Adri Swanepoel.