Ollie Wood has stepped in to take over the reins for the Greater Northern Raiders on Saturday in their tough home clash against Lindisfarne.
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Coach Andrew Gower had only rang up Wood on Thursday after realising leaders Miles Barnard (unavailable) and Alistair Taylor (hamstring) had been ruled out.
The Westbury allrounder had just returned to the side four rounds into the new season after missing preseason.
"There is not really a whole lot of time to worry about or think too much," Wood said after being named skipper.
"It's just a fantastic opportunity and I'm really excited."
The 21-year-old captained Riverside's T20 side and in 50-over games twice prior to his move to the Shamrocks.
The promising allrounder believes making the calls will guide his respective bowlers.
"I think to be honest it will work a little bit as an advantage. I suppose bowling myself, I will get a good gauge of what the conditions are and be able to pass that on to the bowlers," he said.
"A lot of our bowlers have their ideas, but I'll be able to look from a personal point of view and make sure we have the best planning in place."
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The Raiders are coming off a sour loss inside 109 overs, but Wood remains optimistic of the benefit of facing reigning premiers Lindisfarne.
The Lightning have won all of their five matches compared to the Raiders' none in a top-versus-bottom outing at the NTCA No.2 Ground.
"I don't think there is a whole lot I have to do to get the boys up," Wood said.
"We're all incredibly excited and incredibly pumped.
"To do well against Lindisfarne, you can do well against anyone. That's the way we're looking at it - a great opportunity and I know the boys are itching to get out there."
The Raiders will be boosted from the return of James Beattie and Brodie Hayes.
Wood believes the playing group are still learning more every week from their losses.
"I think [Thursday] night we had as good of a training as we've had the whole year in terms of what they got out of it and intensity," he said.
"That shows the boys are in a really good headspace and to be honest, I couldn't think I could be any prouder of the group so far in the way they are embracing the changes. They've got fully behind me."
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