Plunket Shield’s hits and misses
New Zealand’s test record this season was exceptional. Series wins against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh saw Kane Williamson’s side rise to No 2 in the world, with Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls and Trent Boult among the standout performers.
But who are the red-ball prospects from the domestic game that made an impression? They’re led by a batsman making a case to become our next adopted South African member of the Black Caps, and a paceman whose only test was in 2010.
Here’s Stuff’s 2018/19 Plunket Shield XI:
Greg Hay: The Central Districts skipper scored 633 Plunket Shield runs – secondmost for the domestic first-class season. The 34-year-old averaged 48.69 with two centuries and three fifties as his side retained the Shield title. Hay now has more than 5000 first-class runs at 43.34 without ever sniffing a New Zealand spot.
Glenn Phillips: The 22-yearold has done his best this season to avoid being pigeon-holed early as a white-ball specialist. The Aucklander made one century and five 50s in collating 610 runs at 76.25.
Stephen Murdoch: Like Hay, a veteran who has tallied a bunch of domestic runs (5290). In his first season at Canterbury, the former Wellingtonian scored 443 runs from nine innings, including four not outs, at an average of 73.83.
Devon Conway: The competition’s top runscorer also had the best average – a lofty 82.37 courtesy of 659 runs from 12 innings, with four not outs, two tons and two half-centuries. The 27-year-old from Johannesburg will qualify to play for New Zealand in September next year.
Cole McConchie: The allrounder excelled in both formats all summer. The 27-yearold averaged 42.75 with the bat and took 12 wickets at 22.91 with his offies.
Cam Fletcher: Took the most catches with the gloves (27) and scored one ton and three halfcenturies in averaging 46 as he and McConchie gave Canterbury’s middle-order its backbone.
Ish Sodhi: Was again busy in the international home season in white-ball matches but didn’t play a home test. So he made the most of his time in the longest format for Northern Districts by leading all Plunket Shield wickettakers with 36 scalps at 24.97, including two five-wicket bags.
Matt McEwan: The 28-yearold seamer continues to be a tough foe for batsman. McEwan took 24 wickets for Auckland at 21.45 while shouldering a heavy bowling load.
Seth Rance: Another member of this side better regarded for his white-ball exploits, Rance’s reliability was a key for the champions, contributing 22 wickets at 20.45.
Matt Bacon: Otago’s bowlers had a horror Shield campaign (more on that below) but the 25-year-old seamer had his best campaign yet with 31 wickets at 24.61, including his first fivewicket bag at this level.
Hamish Bennett: After excelling for the Firebirds in their Ford Trophy success, the veteran quick also shone in the first-class arena, taking 32 wickets at just 17.87, with three five-wicket bags among his hauls.
For those wondering what happened to Will Somerville after his sensational test debut, he had a solid season for Auckland, taking 25 wickets at 25.96.
CD’s Will Young missed his scheduled test debut when the third test against Bangladesh was called off and didn’t play a lof of Shield cricket over summer, due chiefly to NZ A commitments. In four innings however, he made a ton and averaged 48.25.
There were also a number of disappointing campaigns.
Ajaz Patel started the season on a high, making his test debut against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in November and taking seven wickets in a remarkable victory.
He took six more wickets in the three-test series triumph by New Zealand but went wicketless with limited opportunities in the two home tests against Sri Lanka before being usurped for the tests against Bangladesh.
With CD, the left-armer took just 14 wickets from 206 overs at 36.64 – a far cry from his past two prolific Shield campaigns. The previous summer, he took 48 wickets at 21.52 (356.3 overs) and in 2016-17, 44 scalps at 30.81 from 441 overs.
Veteran opener Daniel Flynn found runs hard to come by. After battling a hip injury for a couple of seasons, the 33-year-old, who has more centuries for ND than other player in the association’s history, could manage only 232 runs from 13 knocks with a highest score of 53.
The reason why Otago finished bottom of the Shield standings could be explained by the travails of their bowlers – including their allrounders.
Off-spinner Josh Finnie went wicketless from 38 overs, occasional spinner Anaru Kitchen’s four wickets cost 49.5 apiece while the left-arm wrist spin of Michael Rippon didn’t baffle many players this season as his six wickets from 107 overs came at a cost of 70.5.
Among the quicks, Jacob Duffy’s 17 wickets cost 46.82 apiece while Warren Barnes’ meagre haul was five wickets at 74 from almost 100 overs.