Despite the loss of three key players, the North Otago cricket team will travel to Invercargill this weekend confident they can come away with another win.

David Sewell, Neil Rushton and Duncan Drew are unavailable of the match against Southland due to Otago commitments, but coach Justin Boyle is not too concerned.

"We've got a slightly different team," he said today. "We've brought in Jason Jones who hasn't played for us. We've got reasonable depth and don't have to worry too much - there's 11 men to take field."

Through the team's unbeaten record, they have earned themselves a Hawke Cup challenge in Hamilton the end of the month, and with that in mind they would be approaching the match against Southland a little bit differently, Boyle said.

The game in Hamilton would be a three-dayer and a new experience for a lot of the team. Boyle said this weekend is an opportunity to prepare for that type of cricket.

"So far our batsmen haven't had any hundreds. We must get hundreds. At least one (batsman) to get a big hundred and another to get a decent number. That's our batting aim... 50 or 60 is not enough, 120 or 130 is what we want."

An outstanding bowling and fielding display by North Otago has meant they haven't had a long day in the field as yet and Boyle sees this as something to be remedied.

"In reality, when we play Hamilton we're going to have a day in the field. I'm fairly keen they have a good workout in the field."

North Otago cricket will lose Justin Boyle as coach next week and taking his place is Paul Todd, former English professional for Glamorgan and North Hampton, and current batsman for Valley.

Todd would be joining the team to play against Southland this weekend as a way to get a feel for the team, Boyle said.

"It's good for North Otago, and bit of continuity for the squad. It will give him a fairly good insight into insight into how we've been playing."

Short Scorecard(s)

Representative - Hawke Cup - Zone Series

North Otago vs Southland at Queen's Park, Invercargill
North Otago 200 ( S.A. Simpson 47no, C.K. Cunningham 38, D.C. Gard 34, G.J. Billcliff 26, S. Pasupati 20, Lines 6-57, Billcliff 2-45 ) & 83-3 ( D. Turnbull 29no, C.K. Cunningham 17no, MacGillivory 2-28 )
Southland 199 ( G. Folster 52, O. Wilson 37, D. Williams 35, S. Wadsworth 27no, B. Sutherland 11, S. Pasupati 3-72, M. Walding 2-19, J. Jones 2-47 )
First innings win to North Otago
Full scorecard for the match