After dismantling Otago in the Ford Trophy, Central are now the only undefeated team and have numerous pockets of intrigue to keep tabs on. Central won by 200 runs against Otago, jacking up 314/7 with all sorts of chip-ins from lads swinging their willow before rolling Otago for 114 with a strong bowling attack churning out easy mahi.

Bayley Wiggins led the Central batting innings with 80 runs @ 125sr. Will Young hit 40 ( 153.84sr), Ross Taylor hit 45 (125sr), Doug Bracewell hit 29* (170.58sr) and Adam Milne whacked 50 (238.09sr). Milne then took 2w @ 3.75rpo, Bracewell took 2w @ 4.80rpo, Seth Rance took 3w @ 3.80rpo and spinner Jayden Lennox rounded things off with 2w @ 4.34rpo.

That's about as dominant as Central get. The only bloke who didn't take a wicket is Blair Tickner who was called up to the Blackcaps Test squad and this is the nicest area of Aotearoa depth, most evident in the Central bowling line up. Central are undefeated in Ford Trophy with the following mahi from their seamers and the same vibe is present in their 4-6 Super Smash campaign...

(Ford Trophy | Super Smash)

Seth Rance: 8w @ 3.58rpo/15.5sr | 15w @ 9.23rpo/14.4sr.

Adam Milne: 3w @ 4.75rpo/24sr | 1w @ 5.50rpo/36sr.

Blair Tickner: 6w @ 4.81rpo/18.5sr | 10w @ 9.31rpo/22.8sr.

Doug Bracewell: 6w @ 4.90rpo/21sr | 14w @ 8.59rpo/15.3sr.

Tickner has earned a Test call up, so let's check in with Plunket Shield mahi. Tickner has 14w @ 30.42avg/2.93rpo and no other Central bowler has 10+ wickets, while Rance is the only Central bowler with a better bowling strike-rate. Central seem pretty volatile given they are undefeated in FT, ho-hum in SS (4-6) and without a win in PS (0-1-2). Tickner is ranked 6th in Plunket Shield wickets and he's the only Central bowler ranked top-10.

Let's stroll further down this Tickner path. Last summer Tickner was 4th in PS wickets (23w @ 25.39avg/3.24rpo) and the 2019/20 summer saw Tickner finish 6th for PS wickets (18w @ 25.22avg/3.20rpo). This is now the third summer in a row of Tickner being Central's best PS seamer.

Swing back to Central FT antics and the spin bowling duties have been shared between Ajaz Patel and Lennox. Both are lefites and Lennox is taller, more of a white ball spinner compared to Patel. Lennox has played two games with 3w @ 3.97rpo/36sr and Patel has played just the one game with 2w @3.25rpo/24sr. Depending on Tickner's availability, Central may opt to play the next stint of FT games with Patel and Lennox in the line up or promote Joey Field.

Wiggins' 80 was his first notable FT knock of the summer and this is the annual reminder that Wiggins is pretty damn good. Over 10 innings of List-A cricket, Wiggins averages 46.30 and does so with a strike-rate of 108.17. The summer started with Wiggins hitting 133 (96.37sr) in PS and while Wiggins didn't put up big SS runs, he was consistently frisky with 132 runs @ 138.94sr.

Opening the batting and playing as a wicket-keeper, Wiggins plugged a Dane Cleaver hole in Centrals FT win over Otago. The Cleaver stuff is extra scrumptious when Blackcaps context is sprinkled on top.

Cameron Fletcher was called up to the Blackcaps Test squad and this is a mark of Aotearoa's wicket-keeping depth. Between Tom Blundell, Fletcher, Cleaver and Tim Seifert there are four decent options for certified wicket-keepers before we even dip into the Devon Conway types. Fletcher is thoroughly deserving of his promotion, yet this is a Central Stags yarn and this is what Cleaver has been up to this season...

Plunket Shield: 2nd - 8inns, 375 runs @ 62.50avg, 1 x 100, 1 x 50.

Super Smash: 2nd - 9inns, 369 runs @ 46.12avg/166.21sr, 1 x 100, 2 x 50.

Ford Trophy: 1inns - 7 runs.

Cleaver has a First-Class average of 42.72. Cleaver has played just one of three FT games and might be injured. Hopefully Cleaver can score some FT runs to get himself among the leading run-scorers as this would see Cleaver chillin' top-five for runs across all three formats.

Central play two games over this coming weekend. On Friday and Sunday they face Canterbury in Rangiora, while Northern host Wellington in Hamilton (Otago host Auckland for PS in Dunedin starting Friday). Tracking the Taylor twilight is more than enough reason to be tapped into Central Stags cricket and there are plenty of Blackcaps wrinkles such as Patel's spin mahi and possible Young/Tickner action this weekend to keep the funk flowing. Otherwise tap in to the best FT team so far.

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