THE no-name brand against the Protea-laden superstars; that may be a bit of an over-simplification of Friday’s Standard Bank Domestic Pro20 final between the bizhub Highveld Lions and the Chevrolet Warriors.

In the first place the Lions do have their own superstars such as Neil McKenzie, Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Alviro Petersen but it is very much the unsung heroes such as Robbie Frylinck, Ethan O’Reilly, Jonathan Vandiar and Aaron Phangiso who have played significant roles in getting their side through to the final and with it qualification for the Champions League as well.

The Warriors have been the prime suppliers of players to the Proteas for the last couple of years and the Kallis’, Bouchers and Makhaya Ntinis are the players you expect to be the movers and shakers when it comes to the business end of the big competitions.

Kallis certainly did it in the semi-final and the final of the MTN40 and Ntini reminded a lot of people that there is mileage left in his tank in the semi-final of the Pro20.

The Lions have been under-performers for the last couple of seasons and even for most of this one. So what has changed things around?

Alviro Petersen is a good man to answer that one. He is captain-elect but was out of the country with the Proteas when the change was made and will leave the leadership reins with Thami Tsolekile for the completion of the current campaign.

So what has he noticed that is different?

“I think everybody got a general wake-up call when the captaincy was changed. There was a general feeling that, if the captain could be sacked, then everybody else’s place would be on the line as well.

“One thing that has helped is that we don’t have too much analysis and pre-conceived ideas. The players just stick to the basics and it has worked for us.

“There is also a natural hunger among young players who want to prove themselves on the biggest stage available to them. And there isn’t anything much bigger than the Standard Bank Pro20 final in our domestic cricket.

“There will be a huge crowd and reputations are there to be made against players of the calibre that the Warriors possess.”

Good news for the Lions is that Craig Alexander, who has missed the whole season through injury, and Andre Nel, who has missed much of it for the same reason, are both fit again.

Like O’Reilly, Alexander is a 150km/h man while Nel’s experience of the big time counts for a lot.

But it will be a tough call to leave out any of the young Lions who have served their franchise so well. After all Pro20 cricket is a young man’s game.

Both coaches, Dave Nosworthy and Russell Domingo, have some tough calls to make in finalizing their playing XI’s.