2021/22 Plunket Shield: Greg Hay Eats Runs and Steady Hamish Rutherford
Round rua of Aotearoa's Plunket Shield is underway and big boy runs are being scored. I'm writing this on Tuesday morning, make that the morning of day toru and I'm going to put the focus on the batsmen bagging big runs. Kaumatua of big boy runs in Aotearoa is Central Districts Stags veteran Greg Hay who scored 152 against Otago Volts, with support from Tom Bruce's 74.
Hay scored 0 and 101 last round against Canterbury, so he's starting this season with back to back centuries. Nothing major huh? This is especially intriguing as Hay didn't score a century last season and his 395 runs @ 30.38avg with three half-centuries was his worst summer since 2008/09. A bad summer for Hay is averaging 30, let that sink in and then check in with Hay's recent Plunket Shield mahi...
2016/17: 11th, 16inns - 550 runs @ 36.66avg, 1 x 100, 2 x 50.
2017/18: 2nd, 15inns - 786 runs @ 60.46avg, 3 x 100, 5 x 50.
2018/19: 2nd, 13inns - 633 runs @ 48.69avg, 2 x 100, 3 x 50.
2019/20: 3rd, 11inns, 454 runs @ 41.27avg, 5 x 50.
Hay had a down season last summer, as did Tom Bruce who grabbed just one 50+ score in 13inns to average 25. Hay's now hit two centuries in consecutive games and Bruce has two 50+ scores across the first two games after scores of 33 and 55* vs Canterbury. Both Hay and Bruce average 40+ in First-Class cricket, which has been required in a Stags team playing without Will Young and Ross Taylor again.
Thanks to Hay and Bruce, CD put up 394 in their first innings and Otago are making light work of chasing that down. Otago are 223 without losing a wicket ahead of day three with Hamish Rutherford on 118* and Mitch Renwick on 100*. Both have wrinkles of funk to explore...
Last summer Renwick scored 181 runs in 12inns @ 15avg.
Renwick made his debut for CD early in 2016 before winding up in Otago and in his six seasons prior to this summer, Renwick averaged over 30 in just one (33avg in 2018/19 - featuring Renwick's only other FC century). Now Renwick has a century to start this season and this will be an interesting confidence case as Renwick may have hit a nek level from which he can add a solid presence to Otago's top order. The more runs Otago can put around Rutherford, the better.
I wrote about Daryl Mitchell's T20 World Cup opening exploits and I get a similar vibe from Rutherford as I'm not surprised by Rutherford's steady production. Casual kiwi cricket fans would know that Otago have struggled in recent years and Rutherford's completely fallen off the Blackcaps wagon so you'd be forgiven for not tripping about Rutherford. Maybe it's a similar vibe to Hay as well considering...
2016/17: 27th, 7inns - 390 runs @ 55.71avg, 2 x 100, 1 x 50.
2017/18: 7th, 19inns - 577 runs @ 30.36avg, 1 x 100, 2 x 50.
2018/19: 4th, 13inns - 535 runs @ 41.15avg, 1 x 100, 3 x 50.
2019/20: 6inns - 177 runs @ 29.50avg, 1 x 50.
2020/21: 2nd, 15inns - 588 runs @ 39.20avg, 1 x 100, 6 x 50.
The funkiest thing about Rutherford though is his mahi on the Kiwi County Tour. This winter Rutherford scored 260 runs in 7inns @ 37.14avg with two half-centuries and Rutherford has hit at least two half-centuries in each of his last four winters in England. Many young kiwi cricketers go to England to play cricket in levels below County Championship where they learn a bunch and in theory become better cricketers; Rutherford's the epitome of a professional cricketer who does a job in County cricket.
Hay and Rutherford are also examples of the changing veteran landscape in Aotearoa cricket. Domestic cricket skews far younger than ever before and while there might be Blackcaps context around these lads, I want to kick back and enjoy the example set by these two veterans. As the landscape skews younger, those younger lads have to rise to the level maintain by two of Aotearoa's best domestic batsmen.
Canterbury batted first against Wellington Firebirds with Henry Nicholls' 97 and Cameron Fletcher's 110 taking the Cantabs to 379/9dec. Wellington are 139/7 at the time of writing.
Henry Nicholls is really good at batting. Last summer Nicholls played 4inns with 229 runs @ 57.25avg and this is a bloke who averages 50 in Aotearoa (25 Tests). One of my low key Plunket Shield pleasures is having Nicholls, Tom Latham and Matt Henry on the scene with Canterbury.
Fletcher's century takes us into the Aotearoa wicket-keeping posse. BJ Watling's now retired and Tom Blundell is the Test keeper, leaving Fletcher and Dane Cleaver as the notable wicket-keepers just behind Blundell. Neither are behind Blundell in Plunket Shield runs to start this summer though, with Fletcher's century putting him well ahead while Cleaver hit two 40s last round and Blundell's best is a 22*.
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Peace and love.