Illawarra Flames captain Mitchell Hearn is confident club form will translate to the representative arena when the side's Regional Bash campaign opens on Sunday.
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The team is dominated by players from Northern Districts and Uni, the two clubs the Cricket Illawarra benchmark in recent times.
With four players from each side in the 13-man squad, the athletes have been rewarded for their efforts in the local competition.
Hearn views club performances as the primary selection criteria for representative honours and he's optimistic competition for spots will ultimately increase the overall standard of play.
"That's how it should be," Hearn said. "If you're performing in the Illawarra competition, you should be getting picked in the rep side.
"It's great to see these guys make themselves available for rep selection, there seems to be a much more positive feeling around playing rep cricket now.
"That means we're getting our strongest team on the park, which hasn't happened in past years."
Illawarra will open their Regional Bash campaign with a sudden-death clash with South Coast at Croome Cricket Oval on Sunday.
The winner of this weekend's game will play the winner of the match between Central West and Orana in the quarter-final, with a trip to the SCG on the line.
As the higher seed, the Flames will progress if the fixture is washed out.
The quarter-final is currently scheduled to take place on Sunday November 8, however that could change as a result of a clash with the Cricket Illawarra Twenty20 semi-finals.
The Crew claimed a comprehensive victory over Illawarra when the two sides faced off a year ago, Kerrod White playing a starring role with both bat and ball.
With the all-rounder absent and multiple changes to both sides, Hearn said there will be no added motivation to make amends for the loss.
"It's a different team this season. Any game of cricket you play, you want to win.
"We've got eight of the 13 players from Northern Districts and Uni who played in the Twenty20 grand final last season. If the guys do what they've been doing in the local competition, it should come together.
"We're not viewing it as a knock-out competition, we're just focused on beating South Coast, then crossing the next bridge."
While the South Coast team has also changed, new captain Justin Weller remains confident in the players who will represent the Crew.
With a talented batting line up, the North Nowra-Cambewarra all-rounder identified bowling and fielding as crucial to ensuring his side can overcome their rivals.
"They have a well-balanced line-up, so the key for us is our bowling and fielding," Weller said.
"We have to stay disciplined with the ball, bowl to our fields and field sharply.
"If we do that, it will go along way to winning the game."
Meanwhile, the Illawarra women's Regional Bash clash with Orana has been postponed to a later date.
- With Courtney Ward