Two players will make their first-class captaincy debut while another skipper chalks up a major milestone when an important round three of Plunket Shield, brought to you by Budget Rental, begins tomorrow (Thursday 17 December) across the country.
The Mondiale Auckland Aces will be led by Colin Munro for the frst time, the blockbusting big-hitter fresh from having topped the batting statistics as the leading overall T20 run-scorer in 2015’s Georgie Pie Super Smash, which the Aces won.
The Aces head into round three at the top of the Plunket Shield points table, too — the only side with two outrights from two games. They will host the SKYCITY Northern Knights at Eden Park Outer Oval from 10.30 am, with the Knights, Devon Hotel Central Stags and SBS Bank Otago Volts all still looking for their first win of the season before the leading teams pull away on them.
The Knights will be without Anton Devcich, who has been stood down from this round for disciplinary reasons, but will be heartened by Nick Kelly coming off an innings of 161 two days ago for their A side against Central Districts A in Taupo.
The Stags will also have a new captain when they take the field in Rangiora, after Kruger van Wyk last week announced his retirement from all cricket and with replacement skipper George Worker unavailable for this round.
Will Young
Young, 23 and with a batting average above 40, will lead the Stags in his 31st first-class match for the side, against defending champions Canterbury — who are resting allrounders Andy Ellis, Logan van Beek and pace bowler Ed Nuttall in this round, following the conclusion of Georgie Pie Super Smash and with the imminent Ford Trophy in mind.
Canterbury pace bowler Hamish Bennett will also miss the match, his wife due to give birth, while young batsman Henry Nicholls will take the field in his first match since being named in the BLACKCAPS ODI squad for the first time.
An exciting week for Henry Nicholls
His Canterbury captain, Peter Fulton, will overtake Paul McEwan as the most-capped first-class cricketer in the team’s long history, in his 104th Plunket Shield match for Canterbury. Fulton's career batting average for his team in that time is 45.66, including 15 centuries.
At the Basin Reserve, pace bowler Anurag Verma will be in line to make his first-class debut for the Wellington Firebirds, if selected in the starting XI. Verma previously played eight Plunket Shield matches for the Knights for best figures of 7-82, at Seddon Park.
The Firebirds have brought in Luke Ronchi for Matt Taylor, while opponents the Volts will be looking to put disappointment behind them after having finished runners-up in Sunday’s Georgie Pie Super Smash Grand Final.
Jack Hunter, Rhys Phillips and Michael Rae all return to the Volts’ squad following the conclusion of the T20 season. Georgie Pie Super Smash captain Nathan McCullum is unavailable for Plunket Shield cricket, while pace bowler Warren Barnes and rehabilitating BLACKCAP Jimmy Neesham are on managed workloads and have not been considered for this round. Craig Smith was also not considered while he continues to progress back from injury.
Round three: 17-20 December 2015, entry is free at all venues
All four-day matches start at 10.30 am, and are livescored at www.blackcaps.co.nz and on the BLACKCAPS mobile app.
• Mondiale Auckland Aces v SKYCITY Northern Knights
Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland
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• Wellington Firebirds v SBS Bank Otago Volts
Basin Reserve, Wellington
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• Canterbury v Devon Hotel Central Stags
MainPower Oval, Rangiora
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Canterbury: Peter Fulton (c), Leo Carter, Roneel Hira, Henry Nicholls, Ken McClure, Todd Astle, Cameron Fletcher (w), Kyle Jamieson, Tim Johnston, Matt Henry, Ryan McCone, Will Williams
Devon Hotel Central Stags: Will Young (c), Tom Bruce, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver (w), Greg Hay, Andrew Mathieson, Adam Milne, Ajaz Patel, Navin Patel, Seth Rance, Ben Smith, Dean Robinson, Blair Tickner
Mondiale Auckland Aces: Colin Munro (c), Brad Cachopa (w), Mark Chapman, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Donovan Grobbelaar, Michael Guptill-Bunce, Shawn Hicks, Mitchell McClenaghan, Robbie O’Donnell, Brett Randell, Jeet Raval
SKYCITY Northern Knights: Daniel Flynn (c), Bharat Popli, Joe Carter, Daryl Mitchell, Corey Anderson, Tim Seifert (w), Nick Kelly, Ish Sodhi, James Baker, Scott Kuggeleijn, Cody Andrews, Brett Hampton
Wellington Firebirds: Michael Papps (c), Brent Arnel, Tom Blundell, Craig Cachopa, Dane Hutchinson, Matt McEwan, Stephen Murdoch, Jeetan Patel, Michael Pollard, Luke Ronchi (w), Anurag Verma, Luke Woodcock
SBS Bank Otago Volts: Hamish Rutherford (c), Michael Bracewell, Neil Broom, Derek de Boorder (w), Jacob Duffy, Anaru Kitchen, Jack Hunter, Rhys Phillips, Michael Rae, Bradley Scott, Sam Wells, Brad Wilson
