Last weekend Glen Innes cricket was hit hard by inclement weather – and this weekend it could be savaged by players heading to Brisbane to watch the first Ashes Test.

Colts captain Nathan Purvis said he would find out on Wednesday night which players would be missing due to the Ashes, ahead of their clash against Kings at King George Oval on Saturday. 

Compounding the potential problem is the prospect of players being absent due to cropping.

Purvis said: “We’re looking at that now. We’ll find out tonight [Wednesday] who can play and who can’t play. I know one player who won’t be there.

“We’ve got quite a few players in the team, so we can handle that. It’s just the other players away doing cropping stuff as well – young farmers doing work on their places.”

When asked if he had the depth to cover the losses, Purvis said: “I hope so. You never know.”

Colts are coming off their first loss of the season, with them bowled out for 141 chasing Emmaville’s 4-180. Purvis said the loss had made Colts hungrier.

“The competition is quite strong,” he said. “On any given day anyone can certainly win the game.

“We’re certainly a bit more hungry [after the loss].  We were going along undefeated until then.”

He added: “It’s only early days in the competition. Emmaville, they’re the frontrunner in the competition and have been the last couple of years.

“It was probably the situation in the last game we played that we got behind the run rate and put too much pressure on ourselves.”

In the other clash on Saturday, Cavaliers and Emmaville meet at Lynch Oval.