New Zealand’s 2016/17 domestic season has come to a close, but it will leave us with a trove of records and be remembered for going down to the wire in every competition — right down to the final over of the season at McLean Park.
CHAMPIONS
PHOTOSPORT
It was Canterbury's year, winning three of the season’s five domestic titles: the Plunket Shield, Ford Trophy and Women’s One-Day trophies.
The Ford Trophy title was particularly significant to the region after having eluded Canterbury for more than a decade — then their experienced senior core guided the way to their third Plunket Shield in four seasons in 10,000-run legend Peter Fulton’s final season.
The Wellington Firebirds made both white ball men’s finals. Built on experience, even nicknamed “Dad’s Army”, they survived a series of near-death experiences to make the 2016/17 McDonald’s Super Smash Grand Final where they overcame front-running favourites the Central Stags, then they ran Canterbury hard for The Ford Trophy after having finished as top qualifier. In the T20 format in particular, it had been some comeback — they had failed to take a single point from their first four rounds.
It was an historic season for the Otago Sparks — they got to celebrate their first ever Women’s Twenty20 championship win, beating the front-running defending champions the Canterbury Magicians in an away Final.
PHOTOSPORT
GRINNERS
Here’s just some of the special records that will take pride of place in this year’s Almanack.
Peter Fulton smashed Brendon McCullum’s record for the fastest List A century in New Zealand in The Ford Trophy Final — his fairytale 50-ball ton would be his final innings in the format before retirement. What a commanding way to sign off.
The Central Stags and Otago Volts combined to set a world record Twenty20 match aggregate as Hamish Rutherford and Mahela Jayawardena went head to head with blazing centuries. The game total of 497 runs beat the previous world record of 479 that had been posted by the West Indies and India in August 2016.
The Volts’ 249/3 was also a Pukekura Park and all-time domestic New Zealand record total, followed by the Stags’ incredible reply of 248/4. Just one short! Rutherford’s ton was the second quickest in NZ history and Jayawardena’s was the biggest T20 knock of his distinguished career.
NZC
Breaking the 400 one-day barrier yet again, the Central Stags later also posted the biggest win in Ford Trophy history at Pukekura Park. The new national record winning margin went in the books at an impressive 227 runs, which beat the Otago Volts' 222-run victory against Northern Districts at Molyneux Park in 2014/15.
First it was 20-year-old youngster Glenn Phillips (Auckland Aces). Then, in the final match of the season, 38-year-old veteran Hamish Marshall did it as well, in his first season playing for the Wellington Firebirds. Now they share a distinction as the only players to have scored a century in all three formats — first-class, one-day and Twenty20 — in a New Zealand domestic season.
PHOTOSPORT
Stags offspinner Ajaz Patel achieved the distinction of being New Zealand’s leading first-class wicket-taker for the second year running, going head-to-head with Auckland Aces leg-spin counterpart Tarun Nethula in the last round, the leggie once again a close second.
Plunket Shield
Leading wicket-takers
NZC
44 Ajaz Patel | Central Stags @30.81 | spin
43 Tarun Nethula | Auckland Aces @30.06 | spin
40 Ish Sodhi | Northern Districts @25.92 | spin
34 Scott Kuggeleijn | Northern Districts @27.29 | pace
31 Todd Astle | Canterbury @26.48 | spin
30 Brent Arnel | Wellington Firebirds @21.40 | pace
30 Lockie Ferguson | Auckland Aces @22.03 | pace
Best bowling
8-74 Kyle Jamieson | Canterbury
7-59 Ish Sodhi | Northern Districts
7-107 Ish Sodhi | Northern Districts
6-31 Seth Rance | Central Stags
6-35 Andrew Ellis | Canterbury
6-36 Tarun Nethula | Auckland Aces
6-55 Jeetan Patel | Wellington Firebirds
6-60 Scott Kuggeleijn | Northern Districts
6-81 Matt McEwan | Wellington Firebirds
Wicketkeeping dismissals
29 Derek de Boorder | Otago Volts
25 Dane Cleaver | Central Stags
21 Ben Horne | Auckland Aces
21 Cameron Fletcher | Canterbury
Peter Fulton joined his former teammate Michael Papps and Hamish Marshall as the only active Kiwi players in the season to have scored more than 10,000 first-class runs, while Papps added 10,000 runs from New Zealand domestic cricket alone to the overall first-class milestone he ticked off the previous summer. Marshall incidentally is now within spitting distance of 15K.
NZC
Widely regarded as the most determined player on the domestic cricket scene, Luke Woodcock achieved major Wellington milestones his summer as the team's new all-time record holder for most first-class appearances and most first-class runs.
PLAYERS OF THE SEASON
Canterbury captain Andrew Ellis won the official NZC Domestic Player of the Year trophy for the second time in three years after exerting his influence with bat, ball, fielding and leadership throughout the season. The last two rounds of the first-class season may have been missed opportunities that let other teams sneak back into the title race, but overall Ellis made 652 Plunket Shield runs at 41 and took 27 wickets at 25. A broken thumb meant he contributed just 38 runs at 13 in The Ford Trophy yet he still claimed 12 wickets at 17 and an RPO 4.4, plus 140 McDonald’s Super Smash runs and nine wickets at 33.
PHOTOSPORT
Three other players stand out alongside Ellis for outstandingly consistent performances in both white ball and red ball formats in 2016/17.
George Worker missed a big chunk at the start of the season, recovering from surgery to his elbow, but boy did he make up for lost time. He was by far the most prolific batsman of the Ford Trophy season and in case anyone thought his impact was restricted to white ball, finished the last day of 2016/17 in punishing first-class touch with a quick, match-winning first-class 130 that ultimately decided the destiny of the Plunket Shield — by denying the Auckland Aces the victory they needed for the championship.
NZC
As a spinner, the Stags’ player of the year was also outstanding at a time when his injury-hit team really needed him and he notably took back-to-back career best white ball hauls at Pukekura Park — no mean feat at that ground. Worker scored 659 Ford Trophy runs at 82 and took 12 wickets at 27. He made 486 first-class runs at 61 from half a season, and earlier made 240 McDonald’s Super Smash runs at 27 and took an excellent 13 wickets at 19. He was rewarded with a recall to the BLACKCAPS squad and will head off with them to May’s tri-series against Ireland and Bangladesh.
The Ford Trophy
Top runscorers
PHOTOSPORT
659 George Worker | Central Stags
466 Sean Solia | Auckland Aces
412 Will Young | Central Stags
381 Henry Nicholls | Canterbury
355 Daryl Mitchell | Northern Districts
343 Nick Kelly | Northern Districts
333 Jesse Ryder | Central Stags
Highest averages (qualification: 250 runs)
82.37 George Worker | Central Stags
77.66 Sean Solia | Auckland Aces
63.50 Henry Nicholls | Canterbury
59.16 Daryl Mitchell | Northern Districts
54.60 Josh Clarkson | Central Stags
52.40 Matt Taylor | Wellington Firebirds
Most centuries
2 George Worker | Central Stags
Best strike rate (qualification: 240 runs)
121.75 Anaru Kitchen | Otago Volts
118.18 Hamish Marshall | Wellington Firebirds
116.66 Josh Clarkson | Central Stags
111.01 Matt Taylor | Wellington Firebirds
109.66 Tom Bruce | Central Stags
106.14 Scott Kuggeleijn | Northern Districts
102.10 Peter Fulton | Canterbury
101.55 Tim Seifert | Northern Districts
99.57 Sean Solia | Auckland Aces
PHOTOSPORT
Leg-spinner Todd Astle yet again strung consistent performances across a season for Canterbury and it garnered him another call-up to the BLACKCAPS. Astle’s competitiveness and experience makes him a vital cog in the Canterbury wheel of success. He scored 522 Plunket Shield runs at 40 and took 31 wickets at 26; 241 Ford Trophy runs at 34 and 12 wickets at 32 and 60 McDonald’s Super Smash runs at 30 and 13 wickets at 21.
Nippy Scott Kuggeleijn put his head down and delivered his best all-round season yet, and it earned him a call-up to the BLACKCAPS squad against South Africa though he didn’t get to play. Kuggeleijn scored 388 first-class runs down the order at 30 and took 34 wickets at 27, often causing good batsmen trouble at the top. He scored 242 Ford Trophy runs at 25, and was the competition’s top wicket-taker with 17 wickets at 25, shouldering responsibility in Northern Districts’ injury-plagued season and leading their attack. In McDonald’s Super Smash, Kuggelelijn made 107 runs at 53 and took eight wickets at 29. Teams consistently treat him with caution be it batting or bowling.
The Ford Trophy
Leading wicket-takers
PHOTOSPORT
17 Scott Kuggeleijn | Northern Districts | pace
16 Hamish Bennett | Wellington Firebirds | pace
16 Anurag Verma | Wellington Firebirds | pace
14 Ish Sodhi | Northern Districts | spin
14 Tim Johnston | Canterbury | spin
12 Andrew Ellis | Canterbury | pace
12 George Worker | Central Stags | spin
12 Todd Astle | Canterbury | spin
Best bowling
6-27 Lockie Ferguson | Auckland Aces
5-44 Anurag Verma | Wellington Firebirds
Wicketkeeping dismissals
14 Tim Seifert | Northern Districts
12 Cameron Fletcher | Canterbury
Katey Martin won the Ruth Martin Cup for domestic batting and her Otago Sparks teammate Leigh Kasperek scooped the Phyl Blackler Cup for women's domestic bowling in between a dreadfully unlucky season for the off-spinner when it came to breaking fingers.
PHOTOSPORT
Pushing both hard was Canterbury Magicians allrounder Frances Mackay who starred with both bat and ball in both women’s formats, as well as taking the Mags unbeaten through to the Final in her first season as T20 captain.
Leg-spinning teammate Erin Bermingham also enjoyed one of her most influential seasons with the bat, as did Katie Perkins, while former South Africa wicketkeeper Bernadine Bezuidenhout had a strong debut season for Northern Spirit both in front of and behind the stumps.
Women’s Twenty20
Top runscorers
223 Frances Mackay | Canterbury Magicians
203 Natalie Dodd | Northern Spirit
162 Katie Perkins | Auckland Hearts
161 Suzie Bates | Otago Sparks
151 Anna Peterson | Auckland Hearts
145 Amy Satterthwaite | Canterbury Magicians
137 Katey Martin | Otago Sparks
132 Bernadine Bezuidenhout | Northern Spirit
Highest averages (qualification: 100 runs)
81.00 Katie Perkins | Auckland Hearts
67.66 Natalie Dodd | Northern Spirit
55.75 Frances Mackay | Canterbury Magicians
54.00 Sophie Devine | Wellington Blaze
44.00 Bernadine Bezuidenhout | Northern Spirit
40.25 Suzie Bates | Otago Sparks
Best strike rate (qualification: 100 runs)
143.36 Katie Perkins | Auckland Hearts
136.44 Suzie Bates | Otago Sparks
133.33 Sophie Devine | Wellington Blaze
112.40 Amy Satterthwaite | Canterbury Magicians
108.19 Bernadine Bezuidenhout | Northern Spirit
105.72 Natalie Dodd | Northern Spirit
104.10 Anna Peterson | Auckland Hearts
103.78 Katey Martin | Otago Sparks
100.90 Frances Mackay | Canterbury Magicians
PHOTOSPORT
Amid intense competition, solid Volts captain Brad Wilson came out top of the Plunket Shield run-scoring tally with 730 at 46, while former South African first-class opener Chad Bowes had a breakout season for Canterbury.
Plunket Shield
Top runscorers
730 Brad Wilson | Otago Volts
695 Anaru Kitchen | Otago Volts
685 Colin Munro | Auckland Aces
676 Michael Papps | Wellington Firebirds
663 Rob Nicol | Auckland Aces
658 Tom Blundell | Wellington Firebirds
652 Andrew Ellis | Canterbury
624 Tim Seifert | Northern Districts
591 Will Young | Central Stags
571 Luke Woodcock | Wellington Firebirds
Highest averages (qualification: 300 runs)
167.50 Martin Guptill | Auckland Aces
85.62 Colin Munro | Auckland Aces
63.18 Anaru Kitchen | Otago Volts
60.75 George Worker | Central Stags
55.71 Hamish Rutherford | Otago Volts
54.66 Tom Blundell | Wellington Firebirds
53.00 Neil Broom | Otago Volts
49.10 Cole McConchie | Canterbury
46.54 Dean Brownlie | George Worker
45.66 Chad Bowes | Canterbury
45.62 Brad Wilson | Otago Volts
45.06 Michael Papps | Wellington Firebirds
42.21 Will Young | Central Stags
41.53 Tom Bruce | Central Stags
40.78 Luke Woodcock | Wellington Firebirds
40.75 Andrew Ellis | Canterbury
Most centuries
4 Colin Munro, Anaru Kitchen
3 Chad Bowes, Michael Papps, Andrew Ellis
Central Stags seamer Seth Rance was again highly influential with the white ball and earned his maiden BLACKCAPS squad selection at season’s end to Ireland in May. Rance took 11 Ford Trophy wickets at 27 and RPO 4.9m and was the country’s top wicket-taker with 15 McDonald’s Super Smash wickets at 24. He sizzled with a superb pink ball six-wicket haul in night-ball Plunket Shield. swinging it a mile at Seddon Park.
McDonald’s Super Smash
Leading wicket-takers
PHOTOSPORT
15 Seth Rance | Central Stags
15 Brent Arnel | Wellington Firebirds
14 Blair Tickner | Central Stags
13 George Worker | Central Stags
13 Todd Astle | Canterbury Kings
Arlene Kelly had one of her most impressive seasons with the white ball for the Auckland Hearts, her consistent economy whilst bowling 10 on the trot, game after game, doing a highly effective job for her team, even if it wasn’t necessarily rewarded with wickets.
Anaru Kitchen had his best season yet for the Volts and was their player of the year. He got better and better as the season kicked on, with an outstanding finish to his first-class season. ND leggie Ish Sodhi also had a blinder in that same game.
PHOTOSPORT
Sodhi finished with two seven-fors in the space of three games and, like Ajaz Patel, showed he could bowl a demanding load of overs for his side. Leg-spinners — Tarun Nethula (43), Astle and Sodhi (40) took three of the top five first-class wicket-taking slots this season, and likely for the first time, Indian-born spinners occupied the top three rungs (offie Patel the overall leader with 44). Firebirds spin icon Jeetan Patel also kept turning it on, recalled to the BLACKCAPS for both white and red ball against South Africa.
Colin Munro had an outstanding summer and all-round Plunket Shield season for the Aces, backing his 100 per cent aggressive approach with the bat even against the red ball. Impetus can matter in first-class cricket, too: he scored a century in each innings in what turned out to be a three-day match at Colin Maiden Park in Auckland, trying to get a result after the first day was lost.
Meanwhile, Michael Papps was scoring first-class tons for breakfast with three hundreds in consecutive matches, including New Zealand’s first first-class ton under lights.
BREAKOUT PLAYERS OF THE SEASON
NZC
Glenn Phillips. He bats, he bowls (golden arm), he fields, he kept wicket and did it all with panache. His Aces’ record-smashing Ford Trophy opening stand of 208 with Martin Guptill on Eden Park number two was a special day. He was top McDonald’s Super Smash run-scorer in his debut season topped with a truly startling ton at Eden Park Outer Oval, then he also got his first selection for the BLACKCAPS in T20 this summer and got an 11-ball duck on debut.
Josh Clarkson. Another 20-year-old who can hit a very, very long ball. Physically reminiscent of a young Chris Cairns, some of his white-ball sixes on big grounds this summer were out of this world, let alone out of the park. His astronomical strike rate proved crucial to the injury-hit Central Stags in both their white ball campaigns and his relative inexperience didn’t seem to stop him in pressure situations. An allrounder by trade, he played as a batsman only due to injury, and the Stags will be hoping his planned op and rehab can be scheduled in time for next summer.
PHOTOSPORT
Styley Sean Solia had a huge debut season for the Aces, getting his List A career underway with a brilliant century (152) in his first game to set up one of the biggest hidings in The Ford Trophy’s history.
Honourable mention to the aforementioned Chad Bowes and Solia's surprise package teammate Raja Sandhu, who shone with both ball and bat after being brought in at the back end of his maiden Plunket Shield campaign. Roll in promising keeper Ben Horne and the Aces have found their future.
McDonald’s Super Smash
Top runscorers
369 Glenn Phillips | Auckland Aces
367 Mahela Jayawardena | Central Stags
336 Henry Nicholls | Canterbury Kings
325 Michael Papps | Wellington Firebirds
308 Dean Brownlie | Knights
306 Hamish Rutherford | Otago Volts
297 Hamish Marshall | Wellington Firebirds
283 Tom Bruce | Central Stags
270 Corey Anderson | Knights
Highest averages (qualification: 140 runs)
PHOTOSPORT
162.00 Ross Taylor | Central Stags
141.00 Josh Clarkson | Central Stags
53.00 BJ Watling | Knights
51.50 Neil Broom | Otago Volts
Centuries
Glenn Phillips | Auckland Aces
Mahela Jaywardena | Central Stags
Hamish Rutherford | Otago Volts
Hamish Marshall | Wellington Firebirds
Best strike rate (qualification: 130 runs)
220.63 Colin de Grandhomme | Auckland Aces
178.48 Josh Clarkson | Central Stags
178.02 Ross Taylor | Central Stags
175.79 Mahela Jaywardena | Central Stags
171.51 Tom Bruce | Central Stags
166.66 Luke Ronchi | Wellington Firebirds
156.12 Hamish Rutherford | Otago Volts
154.47 Mark Chapman | Auckland Aces
150.00 Michael Bracewell | Otago Volts
PHOTOSPORT
Big pace bowler Blair Tickner went from strength to strength after making his McDonald’s Super Smash debut for the Stags and revealed himself to be a great entertainer with the white ball, notably picking up a rare T20 five-wicket bag at Pukekura Park. He was the only New Zealand-based player to do it this summer, alongside the Kings’ Aussie import Ben Hilfenhaus. If there was an award for showmanship, and knowing how to celebrate, this young Aussie-raised Napierite would win it.
McDonald’s Super Smash
Best bowling
5-19 Blair Tickner | Central Stags
5-23 Ben Hilfenhaus | Canterbury Kings
4-18 Tarun Nethula | Auckland Aces
4-27 Seth Rance | Central Stags
4-34 Blair Tickner | Central Stags
4-35 Daryl Mitchell | Knights
Wicketkeeping dismissals
9 Glenn Phillips | Auckland Aces
8 Derek de Boorder | Otago Volts
8 Dane Cleaver | Central Stags
8 Cameron Fletcher | Canterbury Kings
Henry Cooper rapped out his maiden first-class century in his first season and at 22 dynamic ND team-mate Tim Seifert put up excellent numbers as a keeper-batsman-slash-specialist-batsman, adding his maiden List A one-day century to what is now a brace of first-class hundreds.
Rosemary Mair (Central Hinds), schoolgirls Nensi Patel (Northern Spirit), Kate Heffernan (Otago Sparks) and Bella Armstrong (Auckland Hearts) all earmarked themselves as big players of the future in the women’s comps.
Women’s Twenty20
Leading wicket-takers
PHOTOSPORT
8 Leigh Kasperek | Otago Sparks
7 Kate Heffernan | Otago Sparks
6 Jacinta Savage | Canterbury Magicians
6 Frances Mackay | Canterbury Magicians
6 Michelle McKay | Central Hinds
6 Anna Peterson | Auckland Hearts
Best bowling
4-19 Nensi Patel | Northern Spirit
4-21 Kate Heffernan | Otago Sparks
4-26 Jacinta Savage | Canterbury Magicians
Wicketkeeping dismissals
6 Katey Martin | Otago Sparks
5 Bernadine Bezuidenhout | Northern Spirit
NZC
She’s already made her WHITE FERNS debut at just 16, but let’s not fail to mention remarkable Amelia Kerr who coupled her preternatural spinning feats with a maiden One-Day century this summer for Wellington Blaze.
Sara McGlashan also put up the numbers in the One-Day comp in what is understood to have been the legend’s farewell season.
Women’s One-Day
Top runscorers
PHOTOSPORT
436 Katey Martin | Otago Sparks
351 Frances Mackay | Canterbury Magicians
349 Natalie Dodd | Northern Spirit
342 Sara McGlashan | Auckland Hearts
325 Anna Peterson | Auckland Hearts
325 Amy Satterthwaite | Canterbury Magicians
310 Amelia Kerr | Wellington Blaze
308 Maddie Green | Auckland Hearts
Highest averages (qualification: 100 runs)
98.33 Erin Bermingham | Canterbury Magicians
85.50 Sara McGlashan | Auckland Hearts
70.20 Frances Mackay | Canterbury Magicians
58.00 Kate Ebrahim | Canterbury Magicians
54.40 Katey Martin | Otago Sparks
51.66 Amelia Kerr | Wellington Blaze
51.33 Sophie Devine | Wellington Blaze
49.60 Suzie Bates | Otago Sparks
44.00 Maddie Green | Auckland Hearts
40.62 Anna Peterson | Auckland Hearts
40.00 Hannah Rowe | Central Hinds
Best strike rate (qualification: 100 runs)
129.41 Sophie Devine | Wellington Blaze
98.89 Katie Perkins | Auckland Hearts
98.62 Rachel Priest | Wellington Blaze
97.35 Erin Bermingham | Canterbury Magicians
95.98 Millie Cowan | Otago Sparks
Leading wicket-takers
16 Amy Satterthwaite | Canterbury Magicians
15 Jess Watkin | Central Hinds
14 Leigh Kasperek | Otago Sparks
14 Deanna Doughty | Wellington Blaze
13 Beth Langston | Otago Sparks
13 Frances Mackay | Canterbury Magicians
Best bowling
4-12 Kate Ebrahim | Canterbury Magicians
4-24 Beth Langston | Otago Sparks
4-24 Maddie Green | Auckland Hearts
4-31 Millie Cowan | Otago Sparks
4-31 Amy Satterthwaite | Canterbury Magicians
4-32 Kate Anderson | Northern Spirit
4-34 Jess Watkin | Central Hinds
4-36 Jess Watkin | Central Hinds
4-47 Regina Lili’i | Auckland Hearts
4-56 Amelia Kerr | Wellington Blaze
Wicketkeeping dismissals
12 Bernadine Bezuidenhout | Northern Spirit
10 Jacinta Savage | Canterbury Magicians
Many other players took their turn to step up and stand out in the 2016/17 domestic season and the result was one of the best yet, all competitions going down to the wire.
Well played.
