Domestic Cricket Guide - Ford Trophy #1
Ford Trophy cricket got underway after Christmas with our domestic 50-over competition squeezing two games in before a little New Years break. Two games to settle into their work after T20 cricket and one round of Plunket Shield cricket, rather confusing yeah but here we are. Both Canterbury and Auckland head into their third games with two wins in the bag, while Otago and Northern Districts now found themselves chasing the pack with two losses.
Sizzle, You're On Fire
Cachopa Bros
It was a good start to the Ford Trophy for the Cachopa brothers with Craig and Brad both hitting 90s. Craig played an aggressive hand for Wellington in their first up win over ND scoring 95 off 84 balls chasing ND's 268 while Brad continued the Cachopa dominance over ND with 93 against the Knights in Auckland's second game.
In their other innings, both Brad and Craig scored ducks. Odd.
Neil Broom
One of the best strikers in domestic cricket got off to a flyer with a century in his first game of the Ford Trophy. Neil Broom helped Otago set Auckland a total of 313 in their first game with 101 off 99 balls (5th List A hundy) including 10 boundaries, which Otago lost...
Glenn Phillips | Colin Munro
Auckland chased down Otago's total thanks to centuries from 19 year old Glenn Phillips and Colin Munro. Munro was recently named in the BLACKCAPS T20 squad, which should come as no surprise and the hard-hitting lefty smoked 110 off 79 balls in typical Munro fashion.
Phillips' innings was perhaps more intriguing as the South African born youngster has a growing reputation as a batsman of some potential. His 101 came off 96 balls with Phillips opening alongside Jeet Raval. I'd keep an eye on Phillips if I were you, especially if he's going to open throughout the competition.
George Worker
After missing Central District's first game as he was on BLACKCAPS duty, George Worker slotted straight back into the Stags line up perfectly. In CD's win over Wellington, Worker hit 114 off 120 balls and the Stags would have been grateful to have Worker there as the Stags could only manage 241 thanks to Worker's hundy.
Lachie Ferguson | Seth Rance
Leading the wicket-takers list after two games are Auckland's Lachie Ferguson and CD's Seth Rance. Kiwis love to get giddy about Adam Milne's pace and Ferguson is one of a few bowlers who can wind it up to a near-Milne level but he hasn't been able to enjoy the fruits of consistency. Ferguson has taken 4/68 and 2/37 so far, if he can keep taking wickets and can put a lid on his current economy rate of 5.25 rpo then he'll turn a few more heads.
Rance is a medium-pacer for the Stags who has figures of 2/29 and 4/32, far more economical than Ferguson. Interestingly Rance has a List A bowling average of 22.93
Kudos
Anton Devcich | Daniel Flynn | Corey Anderson
ND skipper Daniel Flynn is doing his best to lead by example for the Knights, hitting back to back 60s opening the innings. 69 off 84 balls and 65 off 56 with support from Anton Devcich (64 off 64 vs Wellington) and Corey Anderson (88 off 87 vs Auckland) still wasn't enough to help the Knights register their first win.
Anderson has been recalled to the BLACKCAPS as a batsman and he put on a display for the Knights showcasing his ability to hit nearly any delivery to the boundary. The national team need Anderson to contribute solely with the bat and with some runs behind him, I'm excited to see what Anderson comes up with.
Stephen Murdoch | Brent Arnel
Supporting Craig Cachopa's swashbuckling innings was Stephen Murdoch - who continues to do a solid job for Wellington. Murdoch played the steady hand, scoring 83 off 110 balls batting at no.3 taking his List A average to 40.37.
Earlier, Brent Arnel took 4/45 off his 10 overs taking the key wickets of Dean Brownlie and Devcich before skittling the stumps of Scott Kuggeleijn and Brett Hampton.
Michael Bracewell
63 off 73 balls for the strong lefty in support of Neil Broom's century. Bracewell is one of a few batsmen who could work their way into the national team if they continue to put runs on the board.
Robbie O'Donnell
Supporting Brad Cachopa was 21 year old Robbie O'Donnell and his 78 off 96 balls batting at no.6. O'Donnell clearly has potential and will be looking to establish himself in Auckland's middle order, especially with guys like Munro away with the BLACKCAPS.
Jesse Ryder
If the Stags can get any sort of runs out of Jesse Ryder they will be grateful as those runs always come quickly. Ryder hit 58 off 42 balls against Wellington, supporting Worker for a brief time and with the absence of any pressure, it will be fun to watch Ryder's work this season.
Canterbury Bowling Crew
Canterbury's bowlers have done a fine job in the opening two rounds of the Ford Trophy, bowling both CD and Otago out for less than 200 runs. There's a lot of experience in this bolwing attack with Hamish Bennett, Todd Astle, Andrew Ellis, Logan van Beek, Roneel Hira and Matt Henry all lining up for the Cantabs but it's Edward Nuttall who intrigues me the most.
Nuttall is a 22 year old lefty who sits just behind Ferguson and Rance on 5 wickets having taken 3/22 vs CD and 2/36 vs Otago. There's a few 'next up' bowlers, especially the lefties with Mitchell McClenaghan and Ben Wheeler eyeing up some Test cricket, I definitely wouldn't sleep on Nuttall though and he looks like he'll don the black cap at some point.
Shout out to Peter Fulton as well: 81 off 92 balls vs Otago.
Hmmm....
Young Aces
Auckland have usually been the team full of wise heads, experienced domestic troopers who have tasted international cricket. Nowadays we are seeing a wave of youth flow through the Aces with Glenn Phillips, Rob O'Donnell, Shawn Hicks and Mark Chapman joining bowlers Matt Quinn and Lachie Ferguson.
The calibre of these young players stands out with Phillips just smoking a hundy, O'Donnell in the runs, Hicks being a known talen in Auckland and Chapman has scored an ODI hundred for Hong Kong.
Jimmy Neesham
To say that the BLACKCAPS are currently enjoying the luxury of an abundance of all-rounders is an understatement, so I don't blame you for forgetting about Mr Neesham. It's been a slow start to the Ford Trophy for Neesham - who like Anderson is only batting - having scored 5 vs Auckland and 32 vs Canterbury.
I think 2016 could be a very interesting year for Neesham, given the all-rounders situation and the World T20 which is quickly approaching. It all starts with runs in the Ford Trophy however, so hopefully Neesham finds some form.
Spinnerz
I don't think we're graced with the healthiest spinning stocks right now but with a bunch of experienced campaigners doing the rounds, it's fun to see who is the bestest spinner of the land ... in the Ford Trophy. I'll wait for a slightly bigger sample size, in the meantime ponder to yourself who you'd take out of Todd Astle, Jeetan Patel, Luke Woodcock, Tarun Nethula, Roneel Hira, Marty Kain (even George Worker), Jono Boult, Antony Devcich and Mark Craig.
These spinners don't stand out as being amazing, nor do they suck. Hence it's interesting.