After striking his richest vein of form last summer, veteran Central Stags opening batsman Greg Hay is about to take another big step in his career.
Hay, 34, has been named the Central Stags' captain for this summer's Plunket Shield, a season in which his team will look to defend the title they claimed undefeated last season.
Hay, a Nelson icon of the game, was one of the side's biggest contributors to that campaign, scoring a half century or better in all but the final match, finishing as the team's most prolific batsman, and second only to the now-retired Wellington Firebirds machine Michael Papps in the national aggregates for the red ball season.
Yet little did Hay know then that he would be in charge of keeping the ball rolling this season, after Will Young elected to step down from the skipper's platform in all formats for 2018/19.
Young is among a number of regulars from the domestic circuit who will miss the early part of the Plunket Shield and, possibly, The Ford Trophy while competing in New Zealand A's series against Pakistan A in UAE and India A here in New Zealand in November-December.
While Hay will take over the reins for the Plunket Shield this summer, 60-cap BLACKCAP Doug Bracewell will be the captain for the Stags' one-day Ford Trophy.
The Ford Trophy will run from October 24 until December 1 this year before the Plunket Shield briefly resumes; then it's a switch to the thrills and big hits of Burger King Super Smash until the back end of the Plunket Shield in February and March 2019.
Young (below) says he took the decision to stand down from captaincy at the end of last season, having guided Central to only its 10th national first-class championship since the team’s maiden title in 1953/54.
It seemed the perfect way to finish a chapter, he said.
“I just felt that now the time was right for both me and the team to step aside from the captaincy role and allow others to lead the way,” said Young who will turn 26 next month.
“I took on the captaincy at 22 and I had given captaincy my all since then. It’s been an absolute pleasure to lead this group of men over the past two and a half seasons, and I’m not ruling out accepting the role again in the future. But right now, new leadership for the group will be a good thing to keep things fresh, and to keep bringing new ideas to the table."
The Central Stags’ Burger King Super Smash captain for 2018/19 will be announced later in the season.
