Domestic Cricket Daily: Ford Trophy #2
As Ish Sodhi spun the Sydney Thunder batsmen into a 6-wicket-web over in the Big Bash League, young kiwi cricketers continued their domination of the opening Ford Trophy rounds. Auckland's Sean Solia and Central Districts' Josh Clarkson went back to back with notable innings, Northern Districts' Joe Carter passed 50 and his ND comrade Brett Randell took 4 wickets on debut. Jimmy Neesham also chipped in with a sneaky 4-wicket-haul.
There were of course classy performances from the grizzly veterans as well via Rob Nicol and Tarun Nethula's spin, the blade of Michael Papps and Luke Woodcock, plus Anaru Kitchen got dominated his former province with 4 wickets @ 2.30rpo for Otago.
Northern Districts vs Canterbury
Notables
Canterbury 135 off 32 overs.
Brett Randell - 4/34 @4.25rpo, Brett Hampton - 3/24 @3.42rpo, Scott Kuggeleijn - 2/36 @4rpo.
ND 136/1 off 29.3 overs.
Dean Brownlie - 55, Joe Carter - 64.
Notes
After sniffing around the Auckland squad for a few years, former Under 19 rep Brett Randell stormed on to the domestic scene with an impressive 4-wicket display. Considering that Randell took 10 wickets in five games at the Under 19 World Cup back in 2014, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise and we can now add the former Mount Albert Grammar School student to a very funky list of young seamers simmering away at ND.
Scott Kuggeleijn is suddenly the veteran of the bowling attack thanks to his copious experience at this level and a relatively inexperienced bowling attack also featuring Brett Hampton, Zak Gibson and Josef Walker rolled their way through Canterbury's batting line up. Whether Canterbury fluffed it, or whether this ND bowling unit is able to back up this sort of performance is something to keep tabs on in the coming games.
Any time Dean Brownlie is included in a Blackcaps Test squad, far too many questions about where he fits in, are asked. Brownlie operates at a class above domestic cricket and while I'm not high on his mid/long-term future as a Blackcap, you simply can't go wrong with selecting Brownlie in the squad to cover all spots in the batting line up. Brownlie (55*) is also the perfect bloke for Joe Carter to bat alongside at the top of the order and Carter's progress through the Ford Trophy will be intriguing as he has shown in the Plunket Shield that he can bat fairly well; his 64 here was his first Ford Trophy half-century, while he's got eight in Plunket Shield cricket.
Central Districts vs Wellington
Notables
CD 212/9
Josh Clarkson - 68.
Anurag Verma -5/44 @4.40rpo, Hamish Bennett - 2/39 @3.90rpo.
Wellington 214/6 off 48.4 overs.
Michael Papps - 50, Luke Woodcock - 63.
George Worker - 3/35 @3.50rpo, Blair Tickner - 2/39 @5.08rpo.
Notes
We probably need to start to sound the alarm about Josh Clarkson as this 19-year-old is loving life on the domestic circuit. 53* in the Super Smash final was followed by 70* in the opening round of the Ford Trophy and he's hit the trifecta with 68 here, taking his List-A average to 55 with a strike-rate of 107.14. While Clarkson is known to give it a tonk, this innings came at a strike-rate of 85 and Clarkson showed that he is a well-rounded batsman who can adjust his play to the situation of the game.
Also backing up a fine performance in the opening round was Wellington's Anurag Verma as he took 5 wickets and helped steer Wellington to victory with a sound 16* in combination with Luke Woodcock's 63*. Last round, Verma took 3 wickets and hit 42*, giving him two very strong games with bat and ball.
While Verma serves up some typically kiwi medium pace out-swing, George Worker's left-arm spin led the way for CD's bowlers and he's also chipping in with bat and ball. Last game Worker hit 90 and went wicket-less, this game he only scored 25 but took 3 wickets @3.50rpo. Given how caught up the Blackcaps are on having bowling options, Worker can't be too far off getting another call up.
Since returning from the Blackcaps, Tom Bruce has started the Ford Trophy with scores of 4 and 1. In fact, including the three T20 games with the Blackcaps, Bruce has four single-digit scores in five games, with his 59* the only score over 7 in those five games.
Jesse Ryder Watch: A steady 33 off 48, on the back of 68 in the last game.
Auckland vs Otago
Notables
Auckland 257 off 48.4 overs
Sean Solia - 84.
Jack Hunter - 2/46 @ 4.60rpo, Anaru Kitchen - 4/23 @2.30rpo, Jimmy Neesham - 4/58 @ 6rpo.
Otago 238 off 46.3.
Lockie Ferguson - 2/35 @4.11rpo, Rob Nicol - 2/49 @4.90rpo, Tarun Nethula - 3/41 @4.10rpo.
Notes
If a 19-year-old slugger with three-straight 50+ scores doesn't get your cricket juices flowing, then a 24-year-old No.3 batsman hitting 152 and 84 - both at over 100sr - should help you get excited about kiwi cricket. Sean Solia has a freaky List-A average of 118, exactly the same as his List-A strike-rate of 118, with 236 runs all up, off just 200 balls in two games.
It was a West Auckland party at Eden Park Outer Oval as Solia reps Suburbs New Lynn, the same club that Jimmy Neesham played for before moving down to Otago and Otago's other chief-destroyer with the ball was Anaru Kitchen, who rep'd Waitakere Cricket Club before moving down to Otago. Kitchen is up there with the likes of Solia, Verma, Woodcock and Clarkson as the top players thus far as he hit 60 and took 4 wickets in the first game, before another 4-wicket-haul in this game with his lefty-spin.
Neesham can't be too far behind that pack; he's riding shotgun with George Worker. Neesham hit 65 in the first game with a wicket, then he took 4 wickets against Auckland. A wild attempted slog-sweep off Tarun Nethula ruined a promising innings (28), although Neesham's enjoying life as an all-rounder where he can rely on either his batting or bowling to contribute. 93 runs and 5 wickets in two games is pretty slick.
Lockie Ferguson conceded 10 wides.
Leaders
Bat
Sean Solia (Aux): 2 inns, 236 runs @ 118avg/118sr, 1 x 100, 1 x 50.
Luke Woodcock (Welly): 2 inns, 155 runs @ 155avg/84.69sr, 2 x 50.
Josh Clarkson (CD) 2 inns, 138 runs @ 138avg/112.19sr, 2 x 50.
George Worker (CD): 2 inns, 115 runs @ 57.50avg/78.76sr, 1 x 50.
Jesse Ryder (CD): 2 inns, 101 runs @ 50.50avg/77.69sr, 1 x 50.
Ball
Lockie Ferguson (Aux): 2 inns, 16.3 overs, 8 wkts @ 7.75avg/3.75rpo.
Anaru Kitchen (Otago): 2 inns, 20 overs, 8 wkts @ 9avg/3.60rpo.
Anurag Verma (Welly): 2 inns, 20 overs, 8 wkts @ 11.25avg/4.50rpo.
Jimmy Neesham (Otago): 2 inns, 13.4 overs, 5 wkts @ 15.80avg/5.78rpo.
Brett Randell (ND): 1 inns, 8 overs, 4 wkts @ 8.50avg/4.25rpo.