On the back of the 2021/22 Plunket Shield All Stars we now have a select group of 'Fresh and Funky' kiwi cricketers. All of these lads are fresh as they haven't dabbled in Blackcaps cricket and freshness is also evident in these lads not being part of the All Stars team. One bloke who was in the All Stars team is Auckland's Simon Keene and he would be in this mix if not in the All Stars team.

Joe Walker

Fresh

Northern offie Joe Walker made his First Class debut before Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi, but has stayed solid with Northern over the past decade to maintain his freshness. Putting his team first didn't make for an easy start to his career as Walker was in and out of Northern's top side, averaging 47+ in each of his first five seasons. Now Walker is serving up his best mahi and emerging as the biggest finger spinner ripper.

Funky

18w @ 19.27avg puts Walker second for Northern bowlers this summer in Plunket Shield. Walker now has three consecutive FC seasons with 10+ wickets and he has averaged below 21 in three of his last four seasons. Walker also finished as the best bowler in Northern's Super Smash championship (16w @ 12.93avg).

Dale Phillips

Fresh

Otago batter Dale Phillips has a double-whammy of freshness as he is the younger brother of Glenn and his move south to Otago has quickly resulted in growth. Some might even overlook Phillips' mahi as he sits behind Nick Kelly as Otago's best youngish batter, while Otago also ushered in a younger wave of batters this season.

Funky

Phillips finished the Plunket Shield as one of seven batters to score 500+ runs, winding up fourth for total runs with 587 runs @ 45.15avg. The Phillips whanau vibe was on display in Super Smash as Phillips had the highest strike-rate of Otago's notable batters (140.9sr), yet the funkiest wrinkle is how Phillips has developed since linking up with Otago. Phillips scored 41 runs in 5inns (8.20avg) during his first FC season, which then became 419 runs @ 41.90avg last season before passing 500 runs and 45avg this season.

Troy Johnson

Fresh

Wellington don't lack top-notch fresh talent, but Troy Johnson continues to command attention with his run-scoring mahi. Johnson is only in his third season of FC cricket with Wellington and he has quietly settled into an all-format groove which is enticing given the batting line ups available to Wellington.

Funky

Johnson led all Wellington batters in the Plunket Shield this season with 389 runs @ 55.57avg. While Johnson averages 40.68 after 17 List-A innings, this is a bit meh compared to FC cricket where Johnson averages 50.06 after 20inns. Johnson started slowly in his debut season (71 runs @ 17.75avg) before basking in Wellington sunshine with back to back seasons of 250+ runs and 50+ averages.

Henry Shipley

Fresh

While Shipley is well acquainted with the domestic circuit since making his FC debut in 2016, this version of Shipley is fresh and exactly what Canterbury require. Shipley hasn't been a dominant force for Canterbury and hasn't needed to be as Shipley entered domestic cricket with ample veterans around him, as well as a pocket of Blackcaps who always lead their team strongly. The veterans have moved on, the Blackcaps chime in when they can and Shipley's unique all-round talents can fill a void with bat or ball.

Funky

In the Plunket Shield, Shipley had a funky stat double of averaging 30+ with the bat (228 runs @ 32.57avg) and below 15 with the ball (16w @ 12.81avg). Shipley enjoyed his best season for runs and wickets this summer, while Shipley also finished as Canterbury's best Super Smash bowler (18w @ 14.11avg). Shipley hovers around 20avg with the bat in all three formats and has the lovely wrinkle of his strike-rates aligning with the format; 51.51sr (FC), 95.33sr (LA) and 142.64sr (T20).

Will Williams

Fresh

Williams is another bloke who has been on the domestic circuit for a while now (debuted in 2012) and while that doesn't smell fresh, yet Williams is brewing into his freshness. Canterbury churn out seamers and they might have the best seam-bowling factory in Aotearoa - currently led by Matt Henry. When Canterbury won the Plunket Shield last season they had Williams, Fraser Sheat and Ed Nuttall all taking 20+ wickets. This season Canterbury had just Williams and Henry with 20+ wickets.

It's tricky to keep up with Canterbury seamers. Last season Sean Davey was a major Plunket Shield factor, this season William O'Rourke and Zakary Foulkes popped up to get more overs. Shipley, Henry, Nuttall, Williams, O'Rourke, Davey, Sheat, Foulkes and Andrew Hazeldine were all deployed as seamers with Henry the only Blackcap in that mix. Take Henry out of that mix and Canterbury have an army of seamers, who led them to Plunket Shield glory last season and provide immense depth. Williams is the best of this group.

Funky

Williams finished the Plunket Shield with 25w @ 21.52avg. Williams now has five seasons in a row with 10+ wickets ... let's make that 13+ wickets. This was Williams' third season in a row with 17w wickets, his second season in a row with 20+ wickets. Williams has averaged below 30 in seven of his eight summers in FC cricket, taking Williams to 116w @ 22.90avg in his career. Williams also averages 31.43 in LA and 26.23avg in T20, making him one of the best underground cricketers in Aotearoa.

Will O'Donnell

Fresh

Some of these lads have situational freshness, others are fresh in their domestic careers. Auckland's Will O'Donnell fits into the latter category as he has wrapped up his fourth season of FC cricket and after just one game in each of his first two seasons, O'Donnell has settled in to play at least four games in his last two seasons. O'Donnell has already progressed nicely but is yet to earn consistent selection across all formats and we should be prepared for lots of runs when that happens

Funky

O'Donnell didn't quite match older bro Rob's mahi this summer, but his 335 runs @ 41.87avg weren't far off. Last summer O'Donnell hit 375 runs @ 75avg and after 21inns of FC cricket, O'Donnell is cruising along at 44.47avg. Auckland also won the Ford Trophy and did so without O'Donnell, which is funky as O'Donnell cracked 537 runs @ 53.70avg in the summer prior across 10 FT games.

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Peace and love.