Pirates started the season with a hard-fought three wicket win over Port City Leagues Magpies last weekend.

In his first game for the club, Jeremy Cowin made a positive impression with 1-19 off five overs with ball in hand.

That was followed up by 24 with the bat at the top of the order when Pirates were in trouble at 6-48 chasing 125.

“Jeremy bowled well and has been hitting them alright with the bat as well,” captain Paul Stait said.

Stait, who contributed to the revival with a 69-run partnership with Ben Woodward, wants a bit more from his top order against last year’s premiers.

“Last week we were a bit rusty,” he said.

“I’d like to see one or two of the top order go on and score some runs because it could easily have gone the other way.”

Pirates lose Jamie Carroll, but welcome back last year’s leading runscorer Mark Jackson who is expected to open.

Wauchope captain Matt Day wants more of the same from his side despite last week’s one-wicket loss to Macquarie Hotel.

“Macca are going to be one of the sides to beat so we’re not too unhappy about last week,” he said.

“I can’t fault our performance, it’s just that we weren’t quite good enough on the day.”

Batsmen Nigel and Ethan McKenna are expected to slot somewhere in the top seven, but their inclusions could be offset by the doubt surrounding Andrew Murrell and Jason Blythe.

“They’re both under an injury cloud so we’ll have to wait and see how they both pull up,” Day said.

Day remained wary of a couple of Pirates who he thought could do some damage.

“By all reports Jeremy Cowin bowled well and Staity is evergreen who gives you nothing with the ball and can score some runs too,” he said.

At Wayne Richards Park, Macquarie Hotel will also aim for two wins on the trot when they host Port City.

Macquarie captain Josh Hyde didn’t read too much into the Magpies performance last week.

Hyde and Adrian Sippel will miss the clash with Liam Coelho and Chris Cole to have their first hit of the season.

“We don’t lose too much with them; it’s pretty much a straight swap,” Hyde said.

The news of Hyde’s absence pleased Magpies skipper Kyle Bray.

“He usually scores runs against us all the time for some reason,” he said.

First ball for both games is at 1pm.