Trevallyn hoping to catch Riverside off-guard

CRICKET fans wanting to enjoy a great game of Twenty20 cricket and help the Tasmanian Bushfire Appeal in the process should head to the Trevallyn Oval tonight.

TCL powerhouse club Trevallyn will take on its neighbour and NTCA T20 champion Riverside in a traditional grudge match for the first round of the state T20 competition which pits cricket association premiers around the state against each other in a knockout format.

Trevallyn will enjoy a home- ground advantage and some strong TCL support as it attempts to gain bragging rights over its NTCA rival.

Trevallyn captain-coach Damian Whybrow and teammates Matty Cocker, Andrew Fitz and Nathan Balym all played NTCA cricket with Riverside earlier in their careers, giving them added incentive for a win against their old team.

"If we're at the top of our game we will be a really good competitor," Whybrow said.

"We've got close to a full- strength side with a lot of the young guys who got us through the TCL T20 comp to the stage where we are now."

Riverside captain Rob Artis and opener Matthew Shipp return to the Blues line-up for the game, with top-order batsman Zac Towns missing with state under-19 duties.

"It should be a pretty good game and they have had a good season in their league," Artis said.

"Playing them on their ground won't be easy on a synthetic wicket for our boys and being the shorter form of the game, it evens it up a bit.

"We're confident but we'll have to play pretty well to get over them because they will be a good opposition in that form of cricket.

"They'll have a fair bit of support and having played against them before I know they will back themselves to beat anyone."

It will be Riverside's first hit in match conditions since before Christmas but Artis refused to use that as an excuse.

"We want to do well in this state knockout competition which is down to 16 teams now," he said.

"Hopefully we can get through this week and go a bit further."