Deep in the mangroves of a fabulous kiwi summer, Super Smash and Ford Trophy weave together like estuaries. This stage of the summer is a lovely spot to check in with the best youngsters in Super Smash while also sprinkling some Ford Trophy context on top.

There are plenty of funky youngsters in the most visible format of domestic cricket, but keep in mind that the best teams rely on certified domestic troopers and fringe Blackcaps. As Blackcaps pivot, they have refreshed their squads with experienced domestic players. Even younger lads like Henry Shipley (26yrs) and Ben Lister (27yrs) have racked up consistent mahi in domestic cricket over multiple seasons.

Auckland

Auckland are last in SS and FT with 1-4 records in both competitions. Will O'Donnell leads Auckland for runs and is settling into consistent game time, hitting the most sixes in the competition with 14. Averaging 30+ in First-Class and List-A cricket as a 25-year-old is impressive and O'Donnell also has a T20 record of 27.21avg/127sr. O'Donnell is yet to sizzle in FT this season with 96 runs @ 19.2avg and his aggressive SS strokes may lead to a FT boost.

Ashok has hit a wee plateau after taking 14w @ 17.41avg/6.48rpo in SS last season. Batters will know all about Ashok's tricks and Ashok is also churning out overs, joined by Sean Solia as the only Auckland bowlers to register 17 overs. From last season's bowling unit, Auckland has been without Lockie Ferguson and Will Somerville. Those two provided hearty bowling support around Ashok last season and more mahi, in a tougher role will provide growth for Ashok.

Will O'Donnell: 4th - 161 runs @ 26.83avg/135.29sr

Adithya Ashok: 3w @ 47avg/8.13rpo

Northern

Northern are 2-3 in SS and 3-2 in FT, in the middle mixer for both competitions. Katene Clarke is stacking up another summer of SS slugging, leading Northern for SS run-scoring. Clarke has also laid out steady FT batting with 177 runs @ 29.5avg/102.3sr Clarke is a 23-year-old with a T20 strike-rate of 140.7sr.

Kristian Clarke is gathering all-round experience in all formats. In Tuesday's FT loss to Central, Clarke whacked 45 runs @ 214.28sr and was the best Northern seamer with 2w @ 6.25rpo. While Clarke has also shown Plunket Shield batting flashes, his white-ball mahi revolves around lower order hitting and steady seam. Clarke has been the most active Nothern seamer behind Scott Kuggeleijn in both SS and FT, taking 11w @ 20.9avg/5.43rpo in FT.

Dutch international Tim Pringle sits behind Central's Jayden Lennox and Dean Foxcroft for spin wickets in SS, with a slightly better record than Rachin Ravindra and Ben Lockrose. Pringle has also jacked up the most overs for Northern in FT with 3w @ 91avg/5.35rpo and as he flows through the domestic grind, Pringle should bring his FT record closer to his SS mahi this season.

Katene Clarke: 9th - 134 runs @ 26.8avg/125.23sr

Kristian Clarke: 5w @ 24avg/9.23rpo

Tim Pringle: 9th - 6w @ 20.83avg/6.94rpo

Central

Central are 4-1 in SS and 5-3 in FT, leading both competitions. This is thanks to Central's strong crop of proven performers and fringe Blackcaps, success rooted in the same middle class that bolsters Blackcaps depth. Josh Clarkson is the leading youngster to track in SS. Clarkson doesn't feel like a youngster as he made his T20 debut in 2015 and I'm stretching the upper age-bracket (he's almost 26yrs) to squeeze Clarkson in as he's a monster slugger.

Clarkson's T20 strike-rate of 153.34 is ranked 34th in the world across all T20 cricket. Finn Allen is fifth (172sr), Matt Henry is 13th (158.78sr) and Colin de Grandhomme is 16th (156.9sr). Clarkson's SS strike-rate this season is 200 and he is on track for his fourth summer of SS averaging over 25.

Josh Clarkson: 2nd - 178 runs @ 59.33avg/200sr

Wellington

Wellington are 3-2 in SS and 3-4 in FT with Rachin Ravindra growing as a young all-round leader. Still only 23-years-old, Ravindra is Wellington's leading wicket-taker in SS and his batting strike-rate of 132.55 is a low key improvement on his T20 career strike-rate of 123.71 This was on display last week as Ravindra cracked 113 runs @ 110.78sr in a FT win over Northern.

Wellington have a bunch of intriguing youngsters and their development system continues to provide talent. Devan Vishvaka whacked 45 runs @ 145.16sr in that FT game against Northern, while Luke Georgeson has 6w @ 18.83avg/4.21rpo in FT. Those two, along with Callum McLachlan and Tim Robinson are yet to find a SS groove though.

Along with Ravindra, Troy Johnson is enjoying greater responsibility as a batter and also playing as skipper. Johnson hasn't churned out runs consistently across the formats this season but may have sparked his summer up with scores of 35, 9*, 19, 78*, 57*.

Rachin Ravindra: 114 runs @ 28.5avg/132.55sr | 10th - 6w @ 22avg/6.94rpo

Troy Johnson: 120 runs @ 40avg/108.1sr

Canterbury

Canterbury are 3-3 in SS and 4-2 in FT. Similar to Central, Canterbury are consistently solid thanks to a core group of experienced cricketers who score runs in all formats. Matthew Boyle and Mitch Hay haven't scored many SS runs, both have strike-rates over 100 which is useful. Canterbury have the best seam bowling farm in Aotearoa and that's where their young funk is, with Zak Foulkes emerging to join Will O'Rourke and Fraser Sheat.

Foulkes is an all-rounder who took 4w @ 5.75rpo in a SS win over Northern recently, taking 7w in his last two games. O'Rourke has been Canterbury's busiest seamer in SS and he is among Canterbury's busiest seamers in all three formats this season as a 21-year-old. Don't overlook Sheat either as he's already snared 82w @ 25.18avg in FC cricket as a 24-year-old, while barely playing SS or FT. Sheat registered his second SS game last week and given how Canterbury seamers develop, Sheat could grow into more mahi.

Will O'Rourke: 5w @ 26.8avg/8.28rpo

Zak Foulkes: 5w @ 9.8avg/6.12rpo

Otago

Otago are 2-2 in SS and 2-3 in FT. Dean Foxcroft leads all SS batters for runs and is the only batter with 200+ runs, while also operating as the best spinner in SS. A lack of runs in FT is balanced by solid mahi in PS where Foxcroft has scored 239 runs @ 34.14. . In six SS innings, Foxcroft has one knock below 20 runs and he has taken wickets in all five bowling innings.

Llew Johnson has the highest strike-rate of Otago batters with 147.36sr, an improvement on his career marker of 131.27sr. Ben Lockrose has also been effective as Otago's busiest bowler and like Johnson, the spinner's best format is T20 cricket. These two are capable of playing all formats for Otago and greater SS consistency could help their development.

Dean Foxcroft: 1st - 224 runs @ 44.8avg/118.51sr | 2nd - 10w @ 8.4avg/7rpo

Llew Johnson: 112 runs @ 28avg/147.36sr

Ben Lockrose: 6w @ 26.33avg/8.31rpo

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