Blackcaps caps were handed out like a free feed for the upcoming tours of Bangladesh and Pakistan, although there was a quiet absence of Northern Districts Knights. Of course, all the big donnies who make cricket fans froth over 'strongest possible Knight 1st 11' feature in the top-tier Blackcaps squads and that's always to be expected. The deep stretch into Aotearoa's cricketing depth didn't quite reach Northern Districts though and this has me intrigued as to how the Knights younger crop will sprout this coming summer.

Much of the young talent focus has revolved around Wellington Firebirds and fair enough. Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra and Ben Sears are three of the most talented youngsters in Aotearoa and right now, all three have higher upside than their Knights equivalents. This is a domestic cricket deep cut though, spotting these up and coming sprouts in a Knights garden that has a consistently solid record of producing Blackcaps.

This summer is an enticing juncture because Anton Devcich, Dean Brownlie and James Baker have retired. These three veterans among other Knights veterans in the past five years helped bridge the gap between the Blackcaps who are unavailable for most of the summer and the long list of youngsters chiming in. These three are nicely split between batting and bowling as well, with Devcich and Brownie guiding the young batsmen and Baker steering a funky group of young seamers towards consistent mahi.

Now the veterans who will lead the Knights throughout the grind of a domestic cricket summer are Jeet 'Jerry' Raval and Anurag 'Rags' Verma. Two kiwi-Indian lads who have been in the washing machine of professional cricket; Raval reached the heights of Test opener along with everything in-between and Verma has had hot and cold periods of domestic cricket since emerging in the same Aotearoa U19 team as Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Kane Williamson.

The leadership looks different, but it's still hearty Knights mana.

Joe Carter will be tasked with even greater leadership vibes having already captained the Knights in Plunket Shield and when required elsewhere. Carter has played seven seasons of domestic cricket, averaging 40+ in his first season and his last three. Speaking of the grind, the growth and journey that builds mana, Carter endured three summers after his debut summer where he averaged less than 25 (less than 20 for two) before bouncing back with the last three summers...

2018/19: 10inns, 423 runs @ 42.30avg/58.83sr, 1 x 100, 3 x 50 - 10th.

2019/20: 10inns, 452 runs @ 45.20avg/50.78sr, 2 x 100, 1 x 50 - 4th.

2020/21: 13inns, 590 runs @ 53.63avg/48.24sr, 2 x 100, 2 x 50 - 1st.

Carter is already on the cusp of higher honours, while those three seasons feature improvement. No one finished with more runs than Carter last summer and the only two blokes with more runs than Carter in both of the previous two summers (2018/19 and 2019/20) were Devon Conway and Knights homie Henry Cooper. Cooper hit the most centuries of any batsman in 2019/20 and while he finished as the third best Knights batsman in the Plunket Shield last summer, it was a dip on the previous two seasons.

Their Ford Trophy work makes for tasty viewing as well.

Cooper: 9inns, 405 runs @ 50.62avg/91.62sr, 1 x 100, 3 x 50 - 4th.

Carter: 6inns, 289 runs @ 48.16avg/79.39sr, 4 x 50 - 15th.

Along with Raval's work up the top, Carter and Cooper will be key figures in the Knights batting line up. They have proven themselves in the longer formats and all three will need to find their Super Smash niche to really push the Knights forward. While these three shine in the longer formats, the Knights have exciting stroke-players like Katene Clarke, Brett Hampton and Peter Bocock (wk) who will be moving in the other direction.

Clarke finished right behind Cooper and Raval in Ford Trophy runs, hitting four 50s in 12inns @ 32.25avg/88.15sr and is a frisky attacking batsman. Hampton bangs boundaries and Bocock is a typical wicket-keeper playing shots all around the park. These lads didn't do much with the bat in Plunket Shield and were patchy in the Super Smash, leaving plenty of growth ahead of them this summer with greater opportunities.

Kristian Clarke grabbed his first contract and he is an all-rounder to keep tabs on. While the lads mentioned above have built up to this phase with steady domestic cricket reps, Clarke is the talented prospect who could have an immediate impact. Clarke opened the bowling for Aotearoa U19 which saw him finish as the leading wicket-taker for Aotearoa at the 2020 U19 World Cup with 7w @ 14avg/3.94rpo, he also had some decent knocks with the bat and I'm curious as to how he slides into domestic cricket.

If capable, Clarke's upside lies in his genuine all-rounder status where he bats in the middle order. The Knights have a small army of young seam-bowlers which is probably the most competitive selection pocket for the Knights this summer, so Clarke could command selection with runs to go with his wickets.

Zak Gibson, Brett Randell and Matthew Fisher are joined by all-rounders Clarke and Hampton, plus veterans Verma and Scott Kuggeleijn in the Knights seam department. GIbson, Randell and Fisher have all shown glimpses of their talent early in their careers and the highlight of this group last summer was Randell and Fisher flexing in the FT.

Brett Randell: 9inns, 15w @ 23.66avg/5.63rpo.

Matthew Fisher: 6inns, 11w @ 25.45avg/5.40rpo.

Gibson only played five Super Smash games and one Plunket Shield game last summer so he'll be eager to bounce back. Gibson and Randell are nifty right-arm seamers, hitting good lengths in typical kiwi fashion while Fisher has scope to bowl fast and maybe challenge Ben Sears for the young hostile seamer king. All three of these lads are good seamers, yet the early years for any seamer can be tricky and that's especially the case when they are in and out of teams due to the Blackcaps being in and out of domestic cricket.

Similar vibe with the Walker brothers who have done the spin job behind Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi. Joe is older by one year and bowls off-spin, while Fred emerged last summer in the Super Smash with his lefty spin which led to his first contract ahead of this summer. Same yarn here as the Walker brothers have a fabulous opportunity to build on last summer as the leading spinners when Sodhi and Santner are absent.

Carter and Cooper have been my picks as the closest to higher honours, especially Carter as he's assembled as good a case for higher honours as any other batsman in Aotearoa not named Devon Conway. All the other young-ish lads here have high upsides though and as evident in Carter's career, most if not all of these lads have been hindered by not automatically dominating as some other youngsters do.

That's a negative as far as catching headlines goes, although this group has spent a lot of time around Aotearoa's best cricketers ever and has been sprinkled into Knights teams which could boost their overall development. With senior players moving on, this summer feels like a crucial time to see how these players progress and who demands greater attention.

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