New Zealand A's 2026 Aussie Adventure: Best Players In The Top End T20 Series
New Zealand A went 3-3 through the Top End T20 series and did just enough to squeeze into a semi-final which they lost. Solid results, but this was a development exercise for NZ-A in which all 15 players had at least three games, with the sharing of wicket-keeping duties between Mitch Hay and Max Chu the easiest example of how NZ-A gave all players an opportunity during the T20 phase of their adventure in the north of Australia.
They play the first of three one-dayers today against South Australia and there will be a review of the List-A action following games against Tasmania and Nepal. There were three players who stood out above the rest for NZ-A with Bevon Jacobs leading the run-scoring for the kiwis, while Jayden Lennox and Matt Fisher were the leading wicket-takers.
None of which is surprising given their Blackcaps status. Jacobs is one of the most exciting batters on the rise in Aotearoa and while he has all-format potential, he is best known for his T20 batting right now with 26.1avg/143sr in nine innings of T20I cricket. Jacobs scored 166 runs @ 139sr for NZ-A and he was the only player who scored 120+ runs, as the only NZ-A batter who registered a 50+ score.
Bevon Jacobs
Scores in Top End: 28*, 49, 8, 58, 23
T20 career: 33.1avg/146sr
T20I by year
2025: 3inns, 64 runs @ 32avg/120.7sr
2026: 6inns, 119 runs @ 23.8avg/158.6sr
Lennox is the best ODI bowler for Blackcaps as a lefty tweaker but his best format is T20 bowling and that combination saw him take 13w @ 9.1avg/5.4rpo for NZ-A in Darwin. Lennox bowled the most for NZ-A but he only had one delivery more than leggy Adithya Ashok. They were the only bowlers who rolled through 20+ overs for NZ-A and Ashok was a notable performer as well with 9w @ 14.5avg/6rpo.
2026 has been all about Lennox and he is the most notable riser through the Blackcaps system this year. Lennox has wickets in all 10 ODIs he has played this year and he took wickets in all six of his Top End T20 games. Lennox has only played one T20I for Blackcaps so expect to see lots more of him this summer and given how good he has been in ODIs, he could shake up the Blackcaps spin rankings if he continues to eat up wickets.
Jayden Lennox
Wickets in Top End: 3, 3, 2, 1, 3, 1
T20: 18.7avg/7.4rpo
T20I: 28avg/9.3rpo
ODI: 17.8avg/4.2rpo
Fisher finished with slightly less wickets than Lennox but had a lower average with 11w @ 8.8avg/5.1rpo in 19 overs. He took wickets in all five of his games and while players like Jacobs and Lennox should have done pretty well for NZ-A given their T20 abilities, Fisher's worst format is T20 bowling so his performance in Darwin was impressive for his development.
Having already played for Blackcaps in all three formats, Fisher is the next seamer to watch out for in the top-tier of Blackcaps seam bowling depth. Along with Will O'Rourke and Ben Sears, Fisher is one of the fastest bowlers in Aotearoa and he is yet to play for Blackcaps in New Zealand so kiwi cricket fans are yet to see him in the most visible pocket.
Fisher's potential is extra intriguing because he has done his best in the longest format and that serves as a foundation for him to develop. After making his Test debut in Zimbabwe last year, Fisher's ODI and T20I debuts came this year with a trip to the Chennai Super Kings Academy (with Curtis Heaphy and Cameron Paul under the NZC umbrella) in between. Add in this NZ-A tour and Fisher is working through the development checkpoints well so expect to get a closer look at him in Aotearoa this summer.
Matt Fisher
Wickets in Top End: 1, 1, 2, 4, 3
T20: 39avg/9.2rpo
FC: 22.2avg/3.6rpo
LA: 27.2avg/5.5rpo
Ashok and Matt Boyle were other notable players for NZ-A. Ashok's workload and efficiency reflect his status as the best young spinner in Aotearoa, with multiple NZ-A tours serving as a platform for him to progress. How Ashok starts this summer with Auckland will be one of the most interesting storylines in domestic cricket to track as he has built a strong record across all three formats and continues to impress.
Boyle has been one of the most consistent players for NZ-A over the past year and a bit, which was on show in Darwin as he finished second for runs with 119 runs @ 23.8avg/129sr. This followed a stint with Middlesex in the T20 Blast where he hovered around the same stats in the same number of games as his Top End mahi with 121 runs @ 20.1avg/136sr.
While not a dominant force in either T20 tournament, Boyle's consistency in two different countries is impressive and he has six 20+ scores in his last 10 games which were all T20s stretched across T20 Blast and the Top End T20 series. This consistency is matched by Boyle's best summer across all formats with Canterbury last season and he's quietly brewing as the best batter yet to play for Blackcaps.
Chu finished with 116 runs @ 23.2avg/138sr so he was only a few runs behind Boyle and he was more effective than Hay (77 runs @ 19.2avg/118sr). They both had a 40+ score in the Top End series and alternated the wicket-keeping duties, which was the same recipe during the NZ-A tour of Sri Lanka. Chu usually batted higher up the order in Darwin and Hay was in his usual middle order spot.
The Blackcaps pipeline is telling us that Chu has worked his way to join Hay in the emerging wicket-keeper bracket, which stems from Chu's best summer of all-format batting for Otago last season. Hay has played all three formats for Blackcaps and scored runs on Test debut, so he is still ranked ahead of Chu but there is a healthy competitive battle between these two and they are putting pressure on the wicket-keepers ahead of them in each format (Tom Blundell, Tom Latham, Tim Seifert).
NZ-A Top End T20 Stats - Batting (10+ runs)
Bevon Jacobs: 5inns, 166 runs @ 41.5avg/139sr
Matt Boyle: 6inns, 119 runs @ 23.8avg/129sr
Max Chu: 5inns, 116 runs @ 23.2avg/138sr
Mitch Hay: 5inns, 77 runs @ 19.2avg/118sr
Katene Clarke: 7inns, 76 runs @ 10.8avg/120sr
Josh Clarkson: 4inns, 69 runs @ 34.5avg/94sr
Dean Foxcroft: 3inns, 46 runs @ 23avg/98sr
Matt Fisher: 3inns, 33 runs @ 33avg/106sr
Muhammad Abbas: 4inns, 30 runs @ 10avg/73sr
Kristian Clarke: 3inns, 16 runs @ 5.3avg/94sr
Jayden Lennox: 3inns, 14 runs @ 7avg/67sr
Bowling
Jayden Lennox: 21.5ov, 13w @ 9.1avg/5.4rpo
Matt Fisher: 19ov, 11w @ 8.8avg/5.1rpo
Adithya Ashok: 21.4ov, 9w @ 14.5avg/6rpo
Zak Gibson: 9.3ov, 5w @ 15.8avg/8.3rpo
Ben Lister: 9.1ov, 5w @ 18avg/9.8rpo
Josh Clarkson: 18ov, 5w @ 32.4avg/9rpo
Kristian Clarke: 18.2ov, 4w @ 38.2avg/8.3rpo
Muhammad Abbas: 6ov, 1w @ 56avg/9.3rpo
Dean Foxcroft: 4ov @ 8.7rpo
Read More
New Zealand A's 2026 Aussie Adventure: Top End T20 Tournament Preview
Assessing New Zealand’s Seam Bowling Depth In 2026
Assessing New Zealand's Spin Bowling Depth In 2026
Assessing New Zealand's Best Emerging Batters For Longform Cricket In 2026
The Three Best Players For New Zealand A On The Tour Of Sri Lanka
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