Central Otago, Wellington and Napier are all set to host the star-studded opening matches of the 2015/16 Ford Trophy season from 11am tomorrow, 27 December.
The SBS Bank Otago Volts play their first two home games at Alexandra's Molyneux Park, tomorrow's game their first shot at revenge against the Mondiale Auckland Aces — who beat them in the Georgie Pie Super Smash Grand Final earlier this month.
The Volts will be without the talents of Nathan McCullum, who injured his knee in that Final, and pace bowler Jacob Duffy, who is being rested after a heavy workload — but regain BLACKCAPS Neil Wagner and Mark Craig, with well performed pace bowler Warren Barnes in contention to make his List A and Ford Trophy debut.
The Aces have brought Tarun Nethula, Matt Quinn and, fresh from NZ Under-19s World Cup selection, Glenn Phillips back into their mix following last week’s Plunket Shield game. Colin Munro will captain the side, while Hamish Rutherford leads the Volts.
The Wellington Firebirds also open their season with back-to-back home games, boosted by the return of BLACKCAP Grant Elliott who has recovered from the broken wrist sustained in a Georgie Pie Super Smash net practice before the season started.
The SKYCITY Northern Knights take them on tomorrow at the Basin Reserve, the Knights having regained BLACKCAP BJ Watling, Dean Brownlie (back from injury), Anton Devcich (back from a disciplinary stand-down) as well as calling in experienced spinner Jono Boult and pace bowler Tony Goodin for the resumption of white ball cricket.
Two fresh captains will feature when defending champions the Devon Hotel Central Stags host Canterbury at Napier’s McLean Park. After captaining in round three of the Plunket Shield, Will Young takes over as Ford Trophy helmsman as well, following Kruger van Wyk’s retirement. The Stags’ squad also sees the return of Jesse Ryder, recovered from a side strain; the inclusion of Blair Tickner and Josh Clarkson for the first time; and Hawke’s Bay’s 28-year-old right-armer Kurt Richards, who has played a sole Plunket Shield match for the Stags, bracketed with Seth Rance pending a fitness test on Rance’s hamstring. BLACKCAP Ben Wheeler remains on ice with a stress-related back injury.
Former BLACKCAP Andrew Ellis will lead Canterbury, while 23-year-old left-hand batsman Michael Davidson is in line for his debut for the side. They also regain Hamish Bennett from paternity leave, and Ed Nuttall from a hamstring strain.
Eight rounds decide which four teams will contest the 1v2 and 3v4 Qualifying Finals on 23 January, followed by a last-chance Elimination Final on 27 January to confirm the two top teams that will meet in the televised 2016 Ford Trophy Grand Final on Saturday 30 January.
Ford Trophy squads, round one
Canterbury
Andrew Ellis (c), Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Leo Carter, Michael Davidson, Cameron Fletcher, Peter Fulton, Ronnie Hira, Kyle Jamieson, Cole McConchie, Ed Nuttall, Logan van Beek
Devon Hotel Central Stags
Will Young (c), Tom Bruce, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver (w), Marty Kain, Andrew Mathieson, Ajaz Patel, Seth Rance / Kurt Richards, Jesse Ryder, Bevan Small, Dean Robinson, Blair Tickner
Mondiale Auckland Aces
Colin Munro (c), Brad Cachopa (w), Mark Chapman, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Donovan Grobbelaar, Shawn Hicks, Tarun Nethula, Robbie O’Donnell, Glenn Phillips, Matt Quinn, Jeet Raval
SKYCITY Northern Knights
Daniel Flynn (c), Corey Anderson, James Baker, Jono Boult, Dean Brownlie, Anton Devcich, Tony Goodin, Brett Hampton, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Tim Seifert, BJ Watling
Wellington Firebirds
Michael Papps (c), Brent Arnel, Tom Blundell (w), Craig Cachopa, Grant Elliott, Dane Hutchinson, Matt McEwan, Stephen Murdoch, Jeetan Patel, Michael Pollard, Anurag Verma, Luke Woodcock
SBS Bank Otago Volts
Hamish Rutherford (c), Warren Barnes, Michael Bracewell, Neil Broom, Derek de Boorder, Mark Craig, Anaru Kitchen, Jimmy Neesham, Bradley Scott, Neil Wagner, Sam Wells, Brad Wilson
Full schedule
All FORD TROPHY matches are livescored at www.blackcaps.co.nz and on the BLACKCAPS mobile app
