The Knights and fellow finalists Westbury have inhabited the top two spots on the ladder for much of the post-Christmas period, in which both sides have lost only once each. 

Alec Smith’s side won direct qualification to the final after finishing two points clear of Westbury, and the newly-crowned player of the year is confident his side can handle the pressure of a final after last year’s win.

“We have a pretty similar team to last year and I don’t think South have won three A-grade flags in the same decade so it would be nice,” Smith said. 

“When we’ve played well (this season) we’ve played really well and been hard to beat, but we’ve also had some pretty shocking games in between our good ones, so hopefully we can play well at the right time this weekend.

“For a few of our team members last year was the first final they’ve played in, so big game experience is pretty valuable - hopefully that can settle us over the weekend.”

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As well as having to deal with the competition’s most reliable run machine, the Shamrocks will face the prospect of rain shaping their tactics.

The Knights will be awarded the title by default should any less than one innings per team be completed, yet Westbury captain Richard Howe can take plenty of confidence having lost just one match since November.

Howe said his side would steer clear of any drastic changes for the final, preferring to treat the fixture as a normal roster game.

“We’ve got pretty good history with South over the past three or four years especially so we’ll use that if need be, but we’ll just stick to simple things this weekend and just do what we’ve been doing for the past 16 or so weeks,” Howe said.

“Blokes are going to be nervous enough without trying to change things too much - it is a big occasion and it is a different game but the more you can play it like a normal roster game the more you’re going to get out of it.

“They’ve been the side to beat all year, but we’re just going to go out and continue to improve.” 

Both teams were yet to finalise their squads on Thursday afternoon, with Westbury waiting on the fitness of more than one player.

Play will get under way at 11am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday weather permitting.

Alec Smith (SL) - 14 games, 837 runs, 26 wickets

Casey Young  (SL) 13 games, 34 wickets at 11.06

Jack Young (SL) 12 games, 24 wickets at 14.29

Jeremy Jackson (SL) 13 games, 327 runs, 12 wickets

Richard Howe (WS) 14 games, 396 runs, 29 wickets

Dane Anderson (WS) 14 games, 537 runs at 41.31

Jono Chapman (WS) 13 games, 29 wickets at 15.49

Kieren Hume (WS) 14 games, 342 runs at 22.80