Barber takes over the role from Josh Bartel as last season's losing grand finalists seek revenge over premiers Yackandandah.

"Jacob's into the peak of his skills with bat and ball and he's one of the best fielders in the league," Kiewa coach Damian Morrison said.

"He's a naturally talented player and it'll be good to see how he goes as captain. We've got a lot of leaders in our A-grade, senior players like Josh and Jason Bartel and we all bounce off each other.

"We've got Josh Warren in there as well. He's a good provincial player so in terms of cricketing knowledge, we've got it in abundance.

"There must be something in the Kiewa water because the sporting prowess is awesome."

Kiewa will look to blood youngsters Charlie Heffernan, Sam McCoy and Will McCoy while paceman Ryan Bartel further boosts their bowling stocks.

ALSO IN SPORT

"It's tit-for-tat between us and Yackandandah at the moment," Morrison said.

"We're both very similar in terms of our playing cohorts.

"They're probably a bit younger and playing at their home ground, they fed off that a bit last year.

"It definitely leaves a bitter taste in the mouth but we're back and ready to go again.

"Over the last couple of years, our batting has let us down.

"We want to be more assertive, especially now in the one-day format with the white ball which is going to deteriorate a little bit quicker.

"That's going to change the game a fair bit in the district competition in terms of how you go about things."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: