Domestic Cricket Guide - Ford Trophy #4
Todd Astle, no relation to Nathan, called up to represent his nation
And what do ya know? Look at Otago, getting up off the bottom of the table, good on ya lads.
Unfortunately for Northern Districts, the weekend's Ford Trophy action saw them lose to Otago, thus putting them in last spot on 5 points as Canterbury's win over Auckland saw them jump clear at the top of the table. Central Districts won on the ol' Duckworth Lewis thingy, too good for Wellington and they are now four points behind Canterbury and four points ahead of Auckland who sit in 3rd.
Sizzle, You're On Fire
Brad Cachopa
Canterbury once again put together a sound bowling display to limit Auckland to 4.86 runs an over as Brad Cachopa carried Auckland to 243 thanks to 107 off 146 balls. Cachopa came to the crease after Jeet Raval's early wicket and carried his bat to the final over before he was run out.
Cachopa now has a 93 and a 107 to his name after five games and has the solid average of 46.60 so far
Todd Astle
You know you're sizzling when you get the call up to the BLACKCAPS and Todd Astle strengthened his case with a last minute 3/44 off 10 overs against Auckland and a cheeky 21* as well. Astle has been in fine form throughout the Ford Trophy and is deserving of his call up having taken 11 wickets at an average of 11.18 and an economy rate of 3.61 runs per over, which for a leg-spinner is a mighty effort.
Astle is the only bowler (let alone spinner) who's taken more than 5 wickets and has conceded less that 3.90 runs an over.
Jesse Ryder
After scoring 324, Central Districts were in the box seat as the rain fell in Palmerston North while Wellington went about their chase. This was largely thanks to 83 off 74 balls from Jesse Ryder which included three bigguns and resulted in Wellington's Dane Hutchinson going for 10.12 runs off his 8 overs.
Ryder has now hit three consecutive half-centuries and of the seven batsmen who have scored more than 200 runs so far, Ryder's got the highest strike-rate of 126.11 (next best is Daryl Mitchell with 100.81).
Neil Broom
Otago got their first win and Neil Brom got his second century in the Ford Trophy against Northern Districts, hitting 124* off 128 balls. Broom is currently the leading run-scorer and the fact that he's played four innings and has two centuries is rather crazy.
Lachie Ferguson
And by a nose Lachie Ferguson has the lead with 12 wickets after the Auckland quick took 2/65 off 9.4 against Canterbury. Ferguson got some tap from Nicholls and Fulton before dismissing them both with short balls and Ferguson also brought up a milestone as he's the only bowler in the Ford Trophy at the moment who's conceded 300 runs #TripleHundy.
Ferguson's expensive but he's doing the trick in terms of wickets, could he be our wild thing?
Kudos
Henry Nicholls | Peter Fulton
After a stint in the BLACKCAPS, Henry Nicholls settled back into his work with Canterbury and scored 56 off 65 to help the Cantabs breeze to victory. This was in conjunction with Peter Fulton's 65 off 55, which included four bigguns and showcased what makes domestic cricket so damn cool; imagine being a youngster like Nicholls batting with the OG Fulton and watching big Peter smacking it round.
Good on Nicholls though, he couldn't quite find the runs against Sri Lanka and has got right back to business which is all we can ask of our guys on the cusp.
Stags Top Order
Jesse Ryder is on fire and coming in at No.3 seems like it's perfectly suited to Ryder's style, especially when George Worker and Ben Smith are putting on 112 for the opening wicket. Worker finished with 64 off 76 while Smith set the tone with 57 off 53 and if you spend too much time enjoying Ryder's form, you might overlook the sneaky work of Mr Worker.
I should really put Worker in the sizzling category ... I'll just make a song and dance about him down here. Worker has had three innings and has a century plus two half-centuries to his name, averaging 80 and striking at 86.64, which much like Nicholls is exactly the sort of efficiency we want from players who have had a taste of international cricket.
Anaru Kitchen
Playing the supporting role to Broom's century, former Aucklander Anaru Kitchen chipped in with 63 of 75 opening the innings.
Northern Districts Vets
ND fell 4 runs short of victory against Otago with Dean Brownlie (55), Antony Devcich (81) and BJ Watling (56) showing off their experience and class in almost getting the Knights home.
Up until this point, Brownlie had a top score of 4 in the Ford Trophy this season so his 55 was timely. Watling has also found some runs as his Test struggles flowed into the Ford Trophy, however it's a vastly different case for Devcich who is simply sizzling (like Worker).
Devcich has three half-centuries to his name and he's playing a fun little game where he gets a 50 one game then has a rest the next game, 50 one game, rest next game. He's currently sitting as the 5th top run-scorer and I'd keep an eye on Devcich especially if the BLACKCAPS selectors are watching out for 'form' players like Astle.
Tony Goodin
The Knights always roll out an interesting bowling attack when their BLACKCAPS are away (all the time) and with no Scott Kuggeleijn, Tony Goodin got the promotion and he's been immense in his two games so far. Goodin's a right-arm medium pacer and after two games he's already crept up the wicket-takers list with 7 wickets (4/69, 3/57).
As always, consistency and longevity are key, this is a nice start though.
Hmm...
Jimmy Neesham's last four innings: 5, 32, 34, 0.
Wellington's dual-spinners Luke Woodcock and Jeetan Patel both have 7 wickets and are both conceding less than 5 runs an over.
Colin de Grandhomme's last five innings: 8, 13, 4, 24, 8.
Jeet Raval's last five innings: 24, 24, 0, 5, 1.
CD have welcomed back Doug Bracewell which now gives them a rather interesting bowling attack with Seth Rance and Bevan Small leading the way. Rance is one of the best bowlers in the comp (10 wickets, average of 12.0, 3.92 rpo) and Bevan Small is an up and coming young pace bowler while Bracewell is Test-quality.
Good to see young Otago swinger Jacob Duffy back in the mix, he's got figures of 1/49 and 2/57 in two games so far and with more game time he'll be one to watch.