2022/23 Plunket Shield: Central Districts Are Champions
Central Districts are Plunket Shield champions thanks to their win over Auckland and they add the big shield to their Ford Trophy championship this season. Tied on 101 points with Canterbury, an extra win for Central gives them the PS championship. The Stags won three games in a row to finish the campaign while Canterbury had a draw, loss and win in their last three games.
Central batted first and put up 296/9 declared thanks to 56 runs from 19-year-old Curtis Heaphy, along with a typically frisk 79 runs (118sr) from Josh Clarkson. Auckland responded with 161/1dec as William O'Donnell scored 76* and this was followed by an aggressive Central innings in which they scored 156/5dec at 7rpo to set up the last hoo-rah.
Clarkson was promoted up the order to have a whack but he could only manage 1 run, while his comrades went bonkers. Opener Jack Boyle hit 47 runs @ 102sr, Dane Cleaver hit 37* @ 137sr and 21-year-old William Clark hit 5 sixes in his knock of 41 runs @ 256sr in his first PS game of the season.
Auckland needed 292 runs to win, Central needed 10 wickets. Ray Toole snared 7 of those wickets in a glorious championship effort while Liam Dudding took 3w to help give Central their second trophy of the summer.
Unfortunately for Auckland and Canterbury, the Aces were always a chance of being rolled in the crucial innings. In the second game of the season Central dismissed Auckland for 75 and 187 in Auckland, although the chief wicket-takers in that game were Doug Bracewell, Brett Randell and Blair Tickner; none of whom played this must-win game.
Central's three wins in a row to claim the PS championship coincides with career-best mahi from Clarkson. Most of this was delivered in the Ford Trophy breakdown and Clarkson's groove started a few weeks earlier as he hit 119 and 44* in a win over Canterbury. Then Clarkson hit 62 and 30* in a win over Otago before dominating the FT final. The joy of kiwi cricket is the depth on offer. These aren't scarce times when a nifty patch of domestic cricket form is good enough to command Blackcaps selection. Clarkson has had an epic month of cricket and his championship performances will form foundations of future selection.
Clarkson's Central homies lay out the path to higher honours. Tom Bruce didn't play the final and finishes 3rd for PS runs, also scoring 48 and 64 for Aotearoa A against the Aussies. This is Bruce's second season in a row scoring 700+ runs and averaging 70+. Bruce has a First-Class career average of 49. Brad Schmulian was second for Central runs in PS this season and he's averaging 40.57 in FC cricket. Schmulian has averaged 40+ in three of the last four PS campaigns and finished 6th for PS runs this summer.
Brett Randell didn't play the final and he finishes the season with 20w @ 24.55avg/2.74rpo. Last season Randell took 31w @ 14.83avg/2.53rpo and he snared 18w @ 14.27avg/3.71rpo in the FT, now averaging below 30 in all three formats. Along with Bracewell and Patel who are in the Test mixer, Randell is quietly gathering momentum as one of the best seamers in domestic cricket.
Lefty-seamer Toole played a major role in the final to cap off another fine season in which he was one of two bowlers to take 30+ wickets in PS.. Jacob Duffy finishes as the leading wicket-taker with 32w @ 29avg/3.21rpo and Toole's 7 wickets to win the PS take him to 31w @ 22.96avg/3.23rpo.
This is Toole's third season in a row taking 20+ wickets. 20 of his 31 wickets were taken in the second stanza and this comes after Toole had a stint with Essex last winter, taking 3w @ 32avg/4.88rpo in the Royal London One-Day Cup.
Liam Dudding's 3w in the win over Auckland takes him to 11w @ 14avg/2.85rpo, only playing two PS games this season. Dudding took 5w and 3w against Wellington earlier in the summer and as Central were without a bunch of top-tier bowlers, Dudding snapped up his opportunity as the only other bowler aside from Toole to rack up 10+ overs in the final innings vs Auckland.
Central's success stems from their elite domestic troopers. Bruce and Schmulian hold the batting together, which was especially impressive this season as Greg Hay only played half the games (230 runs @ 32.85avg) and Ben Smith's four games resulted in 92 runs @ 13.14avg. Youngster Heaphy played five games with 249 runs @ 27.66avg, while five games for Will Young and Clarkson bolstered Central’s batting.
Central had four bowlers taking 20+ wickets in Toole, Bracewell, Patel and Randell. Like the emergence of Heaphy, Toole refreshes the hearty group of veterans who have been instrumental in consistent Central success. Success this summer was built upon the foundations laid by proven performers, yet the funky wrinkle of championship performances from Clarkson and Toole will linger throughout the winter.
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