Domestic Cricket Daily: Aotearoa 'A' Excursion To UAE (T20 Report)
While Plunket Shield cricket has me fizzing, there's this cheeky Aotearoa 'A' tour going on at the same time over in United Arab Emirates.
While Plunket Shield cricket has me fizzing, there's this cheeky Aotearoa 'A' tour going on at the same time over in United Arab Emirates.
Having run through the best of the batting from the opening round of Plunket Shield cricket, now it's time to take a geeze at the bowlers.
The opening round of Plunket Shield cricket saw Central Districts youngin' Willem Ludick announce his arrival on to the domestic scene as a batsman, as well as Jeet Raval breaking his slump and the grizzly veteran Hamish Rutherford leading the way against an almighty Northern Districts bowling attack.
Aotearoa's domestic cricket summer is back and after only a couple of days, we have already seen a bunch of intriguing performances that had the Domestic Cricket Daily eager to spin some yarns.
Unfortunately for the White Ferns, the third and final T20 between Australia and Aotearoa went to the same script as the the first two games in which Australia cruised to victory.
Two T20 games against Australia and two losses for Aotearoa's White Ferns as they struggled to rally behind Suzie Bates in the second T20, thus handed the series to Australia with a game to spare.
The Kiwi County Tour is all done for 2018, with Jeetan Patel getting the back seat of the KCT bus via a win over Matt Henry to claim the Division Two title.
Aotearoa's White Ferns were given a touch up by Australia in the first of three T20 fixtures across the ditch.
Those who follow the Kiwi County Tour closely, will know all about Jeet Raval's struggles with Yorkshire during September.
Anthony Joshua is still the number one heavyweight boxer on the planet. Alexander Povetkin was a decent enough challenger, footing it with the champ for six rounds and even leading on a few unofficial scorecards… but once Anthony Joshua spots a weakness he becomes an unstoppable monster.
The start to a kiwi summer couldn't get much more niggly for Central Districts Stags as the Blackcaps and Aotearoa 'A' tours to United Arab Emirates are going complicate first few rounds of their Plunket Shield campaign.
We're all about enjoying the present moment on the Kiwi County Tour bus, although after the latest round of cricketing funk in England, Warwickshire vs Kent in the next round will put Jeetan Patel up against Matt Henry for the Division Two championship.
This year Tom Walsh claimed Commonwealth Gold over on the Gold Coast, took out gold in the World Indoor Champs to defend his title, and regained the Diamond League trophy he first won in 2016. This is what Tom Walsh does.
Two T20 squads have been named for Aotearoa's White Ferns as they head to Australia for three T20 games, in preparation for the World T20 in the Caribbean early in November.
Quiet times on the Kiwi County Tour bus as Matt Henry and Jeetan Patel continue their dominance, leading the way for Jeet Raval and now Matt Quinn who has made a glorious return.
The retirement of Alastair Cook has gotten plenty of response over in England and around the world, Jimmy Anderson was even moved to tears talking about his old mate. And amidst all the glowing references we were treated to one last masterclass in Cookie’s final innings.
Suzie Bates has stepped aside as White Ferns skipper, after a low key niggly 12 months that saw the White Ferns slip below expectations and also saw Bates' individual performances slide a wee bit.
Everyone knows how settled the Blackcaps bowling group is in Test and ODI cricket and unfortunately for Matt Henry, he has settled on the fringes of the Blackcaps.
Having booted Kane Williamson off the Kiwi County Tour bus, the gang welcomed Jeet Raval as a lovely replacement not only for us on the bus, also for Yorkshire. Raval got his first crack at County cricket and we also had Matt Henry and Jeetan Patel swap their wicket-taking fortunes.
Matt Henry was a low key batting maestro on the Kiwi County Tour last year and after dominating with the ball for Kent this season, Henry finally flexed with the willow.