History a positive as Tasmanians reach date with destiny

Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox anticipates that a sense of history will inspire his players when his team meets Queensland in the Pura Cup Final starting at the 'Gabba tomorrow.

The Tigers will be shooting for their inaugural first-class title after joining the competition 24 years ago, and will need to defeat the most professional state team in the country away from home to secure it.

But Cox, the most capped player in Tasmania's history, feels the general absence of silverware in the state's trophy cabinet is unlikely to overawe his players or to create extra pressure when the match begins in sun-baked Brisbane tomorrow.

"There's a really good quiet feeling among the group. I really believe that they think if we play like we've been playing, we can win the match," said Cox today.

"A lot of things have obviously got to take care of themselves before then. But we've been doing some really good things lately, following very basic game plans and, if we can continue to do that, we hope to be competitive over the four or five days.

"It would be an enormous event for us if we win it. All of our guys are very aware of that.

"It's (obviously) the challenge of the senior group to try and ensure that that doesn't get on top of the younger group.

"And, hopefully, that nervous energy can be a positive thing, not a negative."

Cox also made light of Brisbane's extreme heat as a potential factor in the match, arguing that his team was unlikely to be perturbed by the recent upsurge in temperatures across Queensland.

"Cricket's much more fun played in these sort of conditions (than something colder). It's a summer sport, and we expect to sweat a bit.

"It's been hot the last couple of days, but you come to Queensland and expect it to be warm."

He added that his players are genuinely excited by the thought of attaining a victory that would be likely to make all of them household names across Tasmania in the future.

"There's always that feeling when you get this far. You're in a one-on-one battle which could go either way.

"We've got a bowling group which has been taking 20 wickets quite consistently in recent times.

"A lot of people have (tried to) indicate that we got 20 wickets on some pretty helpful wickets at Bellerive.

"But, to me, the best win we had was at Adelaide two weeks ago, where we played on a very batter-friendly strip and still managed to take the 20 wickets inside the four days.

"We think that was a really good test for us."