Stags set to defend Super Smash title
Josh Clarkson has become a familiar figure to the close observers of the men’s Super Smash over the past few seasons, blasting away with the bat in the middle order for the Central Stags.
The 22-year-old has played more matches for his association in the domestic Twenty20 competition (39) than in the one-day Ford Trophy (30) or the Plunket Shield (three) and is set to be a key man in the game’s shortest format again this summer.
Averaging 27 with the bat with a strike rate of 141 since making his debut four years ago, he has more than played his part in helping the Stags make the last three finals, although he was sidelined with a groin injury as they won their first title since 2010 earlier this year.
The last two Super Smash finals have been contested by the Stags and the Knights (who won in 2018) and they meet again tonight at McLean Park in Napier as the new season gets under way.
Clarkson said that while the Stags were defending champions, the variable nature of Twenty20 means it was always a case of taking each game as it came.
‘‘We obviously sort of have that over our heads, that we’ve won the comp before, but it’s a bit of a new squad, with a few injuries, and everyone’s excited to take a step forward and do their best for the team.
‘‘T20’s a pretty fickle game at times, and when it’s not your day, it’s not your day, but when it is your day, you’ve got to make the most of it.
‘‘The boys are looking forward to this game in Napier on Friday and hopefully we put in a good performance.’’
The Stags and Knights appear to be the leading contenders once more and you wouldn’t bet against them meeting up in a third decider in a row on January 19 – though as Clarkson noted, the Stags have a few players out injured at present, including batsman Will Young, allrounder Doug Bracewell, and seamers Adam Milne and Blair Tickner.
While his batting is unaffected, Clarkson himself is getting over an elbow injury that has kept him away from the bowling crease so far this season – though that’s far from the
biggest obstacle he’s faced in that regard.
He was a fully-fledged all-rounder as a teenager, making the squad for the 2016 under-19 World Cup, but a pair of stress fractures in his back – which led to surgery last year – have left him playing as a batsman for most of his four seasons as a domestic cricketer.
After the Stags and Knights get the season started tonight, the opening round continues over the weekend, with the Auckland Aces hosting the Otago Volts tomorrow, and the Canterbury Kings hosting the Wellington Firebirds on Sunday.
They are the first of many doubleheaders with the women’s competition.
The Super Smash runs for five weeks, with the Black Caps’ white-ball players available the whole time and members of the test squad potentially available for the closing stages, following their test series in Australia.