Domestic Cricket Daily: Plunket Shield #9
With one round of Plunket Shield cricket left, some performances have become mandatory. These don't quite offer the intrigue of other performances and this round served up numerous funky performances that I touch on below. Runs from Michael Papps and Colin Munro deserve all sorts of praise and while I tend to brush over these for storylines that tickle my fancy, we need to salute these blokes for their exceptional work.
Papps hit another century for Wellington against Northern Districts, his third century of the season and he's now the leading run-scorer on 659 runs @ 50.69avg.
Munro hit his fourth century in five games for Auckland against Otago and not only is he averaging 96.16, he's also the only batsman in the top-50 run-scorers who has a strike-rate over 100.
Peter Fulton also hit a century for Canterbury against Central Districts, his first century of the summer. Throw in a Jesse Ryder century for CD and there's no lack of solid performances from a talented group of domestic cricketers.
Now for the funk...
Central Districts vs Canterbury
Will Young (CD) and Cole McConchie (Cant) both hit centuries in this game, which is great because Young's batting at No.4 and McConchie is at No.5, thus throwing a few more names into that Blackcaps middle order mixer. I've always appreciated Young's work and he's the batsman I'm most excited about coming through domestic cricket, however he did manage to slide through a lean patch with runs before coming good with two centuries in his last two Plunket Shield games. A First-Class average of 42.21 and 24yrs is lovely and Young is the leading run-scorer under 30yrs.
McConchie not only hit a century, he also hit 70 and at 25yrs, McConchie is enjoying a strong Plunket Shield campaign. Averaging 57, this was McConchie's second century and he also offers some spin as well so it'll be interesting to see how McConchie goes in the last round of games and whether he can step up to rival Tom Bruce (and Young) as middle order prospects.
Geroge Worker also hit a duo of half-centuries at No.3 for CD which will perk most antenna up with Worker often mentioned as a fringe-Blackcap. Worker doubled his half-century count in this game and took his avearge up to 52.50, having only played four games.
Eager domestic cricket fans would have enjoyed the return of Ed Nuttall, a Canterbury lefty who resembles Trent Boult. Nuttall took 4/92 @ 4.18rpo in the first innings and this was Nuttall's first game of domestic cricket since the Super Smash. Adam Milne is also rolling through overs for CD and he took 3/36 @ 2.40rpo in their first innings; both Milne and Nuttall went wicket-less in the second.
Northern Districts vs Wellington
If you were unsure about the depth of spinners in Aotearoa, or about kiwi batsmen's ability to play spin (depending on your perspective), then this game should is a fantastic reminder. ND have Ish Sodhi's leggies and he chipped in with a couple of wickets in either innings, however they are playing Sodhi alongside off-spinner Josef Walker who took 5/46 @ 1.75rpo and 2/68 @ 2rpo on a Bay Oval pitch that was offering some lovely turn.
Walker's got some previous game time when Sodhi has been absent and they've played alongside each other recently, however this was Walker's breakout performance and he's also got a FC half-century to his name.
Wellington then unleashed their own leggy, Peter Younghusband who is the major benefactor from Jeetan Patel's resurgence into the Blackcaps. Younghusband took 5/89 @ 3.10rpo before going wicket-less and while Younghusband and Walker are both averaging in the early 40s this season, they are two more options to keep an eye on.
It's been a nightmare of a season for ND's Bharat Popli after he dominated last season, however the lad is finishing strong. Popli hit half-centuries in both innings' and three of his four half-centuries so far have come in his last four Plunket Shield games. He's still got a FC average over 40 and these runs at the end of the season should serve as a low key reminder that Popli's still got a few tricks up his sleeve.
Otago vs Auckland
The major performances in this game actually sparked an idea that I'll publish this week regarding a team of the best domestic players in Aotearoa who simply won't play for the Blackcaps' Test team thanks to their age (Michael Papps leads that, followed by Andrew Ellis), the competition for spots (Anaru Kitchen) and generally not being in favour (Colin Munro).
To be honest, when Auckland play, I'm usually checking in on Lockie Ferguson and Glenn Phillips. I try to streamline my attention to this two because for y'all, they are the two blokes that offer the most intrigue, possibly across all of Aotearoa. Ferguson tok 5/53 @ 2.30rpo and 3/45 @ 3.17rpo which apparently got him in the Blackcaps Test mix, only for injury to gift Scott Kuggeleijn the call up. That pecking order is about right as Ferguson as 30 wickets @ 22.03avg/2.87rpo and Kuggeleijn has 31 wickets @ 25.48avg/3.32rpo.
Phillips hit 59 off 43 balls to help steer Auckland to victory and I'm fascinated by Phillips, mainly because he can tend to look terrible. Phillips is a stand-and-deliver type of batsman which can definitely leave you pondering how good he is after he gets dismissed early, however that's countered by Phillips smacking deliveries to the boundary that other batsmen simply can't; he's 20yrs and has a century in all three domestic formats.
Adding to that is how Phillips has been used by Auckland in his last three Plunket Shield games. We know what Phillips does in limited overs cricket, however Phillips was used down the order at No.6 before moving up to No.3 for the last two games and along with that, Phillips has solely been used as a batsman with Ben Horne operating as the wicket-keeper/lower-order batsman.
The fascination also stems from simply not knowing what Phillips could be. It's hard to be a long-term wicket-keeping option if you aren't doing that for your domestic team and the fact that Phillips is batting everywhere and anywhere in Auckland's line up could be confusing, yet it also shows the tools that Phillips has. In three FC games, Phillips has a century, a half-century and an average of 46.75.