Finlayson is averaging 39 with the bat in Twenty20 cricket, and 12.5 with the ball. Le Lievre acknowledged how big of a loss Finlayson is, but said he is confident the rest of his troops will pick up the slack.

“We’re lucky we have a team full of people ready and able to contribute,” Le Lievre said.

“Hopefully that happens against Kinross. The best T20 teams are those who don’t rely on one or two players. Minus Hamish, this is as strong a team as we’ve put on the paddock all season and this game is about consolidating our position and maintaining consistency.”

The green and golds have made three changes from the team which demolished Molong a fortnight ago: Finlayson, Mick MacMahon and Grant Koch make way for Jack Sharpe, Todd Murphy and Matt Baker.

Le Lievre said Kinross present an intriguing proposition, as the students have traditionally been much stronger in the shorter forms of the game.

“We’ve been very impressed with Kinross over the start of the season,” he said.

“They blend youth and experience well, which has obviously been successful for them in the past in the shorter forms. They’re enthusiastic and good in the field, and always competitive. I’d be very surprised if they don’t bring that to this game.“

Kinross mentor Andrew Litchfield said tonight’s game is about “getting some miles in the legs” ahead of two-day cricket.

“Mathematically, we aren’t much chance of making the semi-finals in the T20,” he said.

“So, because most of the guys haven’t had a hit in six or seven weeks we’ll be looking to get back into it and have a bit of match practice.”

Litchfield said his team would never concede defeat but after last night’s training session, the first full squad net since late November, the students’ mentor was realistic.

“Anything can happen in T20 cricket,” he said.

“ We’ll look to be as competitive as we can and if things go our way, you never know.”

Play starts at 5pm at Wade Park.