Two mid-week Ford Trophy games were on offer yesterday as Northern grabbed a win over Otago and Auckland defeated Wellington. Northern restricted Otago to 222/9 with Hamish Rutherford scoring 57 runs, while Kristian Clarke took 3w @ 6.86rpo for Northern with help from Scott Kuggeleijn, Freddie Walker and Peter Drysdale who snared 2w each.

Northern reached their target within 31 overs thanks to powerful mahi from Katene Clarke (68 runs @ 151sr) and Tim Seifert (80 runs @ 101.26sr) up top. Joe Carter (26 runs) and Henry Cooper (31 runs) were left not-out with strike-rates over 100 as well.

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— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) January 25, 2023

Auckland dismissed Wellington for 219, led by 4w @ 2.9rpo from Louis Delport. Luke Georgeson was the best Wellington batter with 52 runs. George Worker scored 91* for Auckland and Will O'Donnell chimed in with 64 runs as Auckland reached their target losing just 3 wickets - all taken by Logan van Beek.

Let's cruise through each of these teams with some Ford Trophy/Super Smash notes...

Auckland

Ford Trophy: 6th - 12 points (2-4)

Super Smash: 6th - 10 points (2-5-1)

Kyle Jamieson's 2w @ 4.96rpo vs Wellington

Ft. a sad celebration and flowing run up.#FordTrophy pic.twitter.com/Zk5DyJMFlr
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) January 25, 2023

Kyle Jamieson has returned to domestic cricket, playing two Super Smash games before this Ford Trophy fixture. Jamieson took 2w @ 5.5rpo in 8 overs of SS mahi, also whacking 57 runs @ 121.27sr without being dismissed in two innings. Jamieson's first FT game saw him take 2w @ 4.97rpo and he had to bounce back from a tough opening stint, rounding back around to help Auckland wrap up the lower order. Jamieson flashed his ability to move the ball both ways and appears to have lovely flow through his run up.

Louis Delport loves a wicket. 4w @ 2.9rpo vs Wellington #FordTrophy pic.twitter.com/5CZnwHh4Dt
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) January 25, 2023

Adithya Ashok is grinding through his second summer of domestic cricket, while sitting behind Louis Delport and/or Will Somerville as Auckland's best spinner. Ashok averages 39.4 in SS and 34.28 in FT, while Delport is hovering around 25avg in both formats. Somerville also averaged 25 during his three FT games. This serves as a reminder to chill with young players and let them settle into their domestic mahi.

George Worker: 238 runs @ 39.66avg/62sr (FT) | 133 runs @ 16.62avg/103.1sr (SS)
Will O'Donnell: 160 runs @ 26.66avg/70.8sr (FT) | 164 runs @ 20.5avg/129sr (SS)

Wellington

Ford Trophy: 5th - 12 points (3-5)

Super Smash: 4th - 14 points (3-4)

Luke Georgeson enjoyed his second 50+ score in FT and is joined by Nick Kelly (3 x 50) and Rachin Ravindra (2 x 100) as the only Wellington batters to pass 50 runs at least twice. The only other Wellington batters with 50+ scores are Finn Allen and Tom Blundell, highlighting a lack of FT run-scoring from Wellington's batters. Georgeson is yet to play a SS game and Wellington are also struggling for runs there as Ravindra averages 23 while Kelly, Nathan Smith, Callum McLachlan, Tim Robinson and Devan Vishvaka are all averaging below 20 in SS.

There is an interesting split in how Wellington's spinners are performing in SS and FT. Ravindra and Peter Younghusband both have 7w with averages below 24 in SS, which blows up to 45+ averages for both in FT. Ravindra and Younghusband are joined by seamer Smith as the leading wicket-takers in SS while seamers van Beek, Michael Snedden and Ollie Newton are their leading wicket-takers in FT.

Otago

Ford Trophy: 4th - 16 points (3-4)

Super Smash: 3rd -16 points (3-2-1)

Hamish Rutherford is Otago's leading batter in FT and he has three 50+ scores which is more than the rest of his team combined (Dale Phillips and Llew Johnson have one 50+ knock each). Rutherford is struggling in SS while leading FT run-scoring, which is the opposite of Dean Foxcroft and his SS mahi should be observed with this context.

Hamish Rutherford: 238 runs @ 39.66avg/77.77sr (FT) | 71 runs @ 11.83avg/124.56sr (SS)
Dean Foxcroft: 95 runs @ 15.83avg/60.5sr (FT) | 290 runs @ 49.33avg/121.84sr (SS)

There is a similar split in Foxcroft's bowling as his 9w @ 12.44avg in SS slides up to 2w @ 30avg in FT. Otago's best FT bowlers are Jacob Duffy (11w @ 11.45avg) and Michael Rippon (10w @ 22avg), both of whom are away with Blackcaps. This won't have a major impact on Otago's SS bowling rotations though as Rippon has 1w @ 63avg and Duffy took 3w @ 28avg/8.26rpo, with Foxcroft and Michael Rae (12 @ 9.91avg/7.51rpo) filling that void.

Northern

Ford Trophy: 2nd - 22 points (4-2)

Super Smash: 5th - 14 points (3-3)

Northern funk revolves around the K-Clarkes. Katene Clarke is one of the most entertaining opening batters in domestic cricket and he is currently in his best FT campaign, second for Northern runs in both FT and SS. If Ka-Clarke is scoring runs, he's scoring them quickly. Ka-Clarke has the highest strike-rate of FT batters who have scored 100+ runs and he is the only batter with 200+ runs and a strike-rate over 100.

Another funky knock from Katene Clarke (68 runs @ 151sr). 245 runs @ 35avg/112sr in #FordTrophy pic.twitter.com/dAuxBpJmhT
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) January 25, 2023

The highest FT batting strike-rate sits with Kristian Clarke (45 runs @ 195.65sr) and his only SS knock is an 8* @ 266.66sr. While Kr-Clarke is showcasing his all-round talents, his primary mahi is seam bowling and he is Northern's leading wicket-taker in FT, second for Northern wickets in SS. Kr-Clarke has taken 2+ wickets in five of his last six games.

Katene Clarke: 245 runs @ 35avg/112.38sr (FT) | 150 runs @ 25avg/120sr (SS)
Kristian Clarke: 14w @ 19.85avg/5.63rpo (FT) | 7w @ 21.28avg/8.76rpo (SS)

Tim Seifert, Joe Carter and Henry Cooper are also in solid batting pockets...