At a glance
Ford Trophy, round five: Wellington Firebirds v Auckland Aces, Basin Reserve; Northern Districts v Central Stags, Seddon Park; Otago Volts v Canterbury, University Oval (all matches 11am start). Standings: Wellington 13, Auckland 12, Canterbury 9, Otago 9, Central 6, ND 2.
calmed down on the way to a maiden ton, ending unbeaten on 132.
"It gave me quite a lot of confidence, made me feel more comfortable at this standard. When you go into a season, you have doubts, like any cricketer or any professional does when they go into a new job.’’
Now he’s working on not getting ahead of himself.
‘‘It’s about staying level and keeping with the team goals – if I can stick with my processes and work hard like I am, hopefully things will go my way. I’m not going to change anything.
‘‘People having more of a look at my footage and seeing the way that I play – that’s to be expected. Some of the senior boys let me know after I did well in that first game that people were going to be scouting me, so it’s important I keep my head down, work on my game and adjust to other game plans that bowlers may be working on.’’
The right-hander says he has a simple approach to his craft.
‘‘I try to breathe, watch the ball, hit the ball when it comes.
‘‘I have some good areas where I like to score – at the start it’s mainly on the offside. Any other ball I’m looking to score off and rotate the strike as much as I can but keeping in my mind if the bowler bowls well, you’ve got to give it to them. It’s all about the ebbs and flows of batting.
‘‘There’s definitely a lot more pace on the ball [at this level], more energy at the crease and a few more tricks with the ball. But I’ve played a few years of A cricket and against most of these bowlers so I kind of knew what to expect, but it’s been a good challenge. It’s nice to play on some good tracks with good outfields and get value for your shots.’’
Born in South Africa, Fletcher moved to New Zealand with his family aged five and describes himself as ‘‘a proud Wellington man’’.