New Zealand’s six Major Associations have confirmed their 16 contracted male players for the 2024/25 domestic summer, with four of the eight final spots having been offered to players from the recent NZ U19 programme.
Major Associations can name up to 15 players in the first round of contract announcements, followed by a two-week official transfer window that allows uncontracted players the chance of assessing their options with another MA. Following this, each Major Association will name further players to complete their 16-man contract list.
Contracted players receive a retainer and form the core of each Major Association’s campaigns across the Plunket Shield, Ford Trophy and Dream11 Super Smash, but uncontracted players typically also get chances to shine and impress in each region during the season.
Second Round Movements
Otago are set to welcome another Cumming into their ranks with New Zealand Under 19 spin-bowling all-rounder Zak Cumming offered the 16th contract, joining his brother Jacob on the list.
Canterbury’s final contract was offered to talented up and coming all-rounder Cam Paul, who was ruled out of New Zealand’s ICC U19 World Cup campaign earlier this year after dislocating his shoulder at the national tournament.
Central Districts snapped up the services of Northern Districts and NZ U19 pace-bowler Ewald Schreuder. The left-armer was New Zealand’s top wicket taker at this year’s ICC Men’s Under 19 World Cup in South Africa.
The other new additions to the Stags list were Manawatu left-hand batter Mason Hughes and long-serving Hawkes Bay captain Angus Schaw.
In the capital the Wellington Firebirds offered top-order batsman Sam Mycock his first professional contract, following a prolific Provincial A season where he posted 485 runs from his six innings.
Northern Districts offered their final contract to 17-year-old spinning all-rounder Snehith Reddy.
Reddy, who is currently in his final year at Hamilton Boys’ High School, was another star of the NZ U19 side at the World Cup in South Africa and has impressed with both bat and ball in the ND pathway system.
The Auckland Aces final contract was offered to 30-year old Takapuna seamer Jordan Sussex, who announced himself on the domestic scene when he claimed 6-46 and 8-71 in the final two rounds of the Plunket Shield last season.
First Round Movements
Robbie O’Donnell makes the move to Northern Districts after 10 years with the Auckland Aces. The 29-year-old top-order batsman who captained the Aces since the 2019/20 season leaves Auckland as the Aces’ all-time leading run-scorer across all three formats, amassing 8,382 runs including 12 centuries.
Under his leadership O’Donnell led the Aces to two Ford Trophy titles (2019/20, 2021/22), a Plunket Shield title (2020/21) and, most recently, the 2023/24 Dream11 Super Smash title, Auckland’s first men’s T20 trophy since 2016.
Leo Carter trades in the red and black of Canterbury for the blue and gold of Otago after a decade in Christchurch. The top-order batter has racked up 174 appearances across all three formats, amassing 4,923 runs and leaves as Canterbury’s eighth all-time leading T20 run scorer (999).
Last season’s Plunket Shield champions the Wellington Firebirds welcome bowler Liam Dudding to their ranks for the 2024-25 season. The 30-year-old paceman moves to the Capital following seven years with the Central Stags where he featured 20 times across all three formats, taking 52 wickets, including best first-class match figures of 8-124 in the Stags’ innings win over the Otago volts in the final match of the season.
The Auckland Aces have offered Jock McKenzie and Bevon John Jacobs their first domestic contracts.
Dual-code star McKenzie, who has previously been contracted by Auckland Rugby and The Blues, featured across all three formats for the Aces last summer and featured in the Dream11 Super Smash Grand Final as the Aces lifted the men’s trophy at Eden Park.
Jacobs, a product of the Auckland pathway system, burst on to the domestic scene for Canterbury last summer where he played a key role in a successful white-ball season helping the red and black lift the Ford Trophy and finish runners-up in the Dream11 Super Smash.
Former BLACKCAPS bowler Neil Wagner is named on the Northern Districts contract list for the first time, having announced his retirement from international cricket in March, while Blair Tickner returns to the Central Districts list having not been offered a central BLACKCAPS contract for the season ahead.
New faces
Alongside the major movements, a further six players were been offered first-round domestic contracts for the first time.
Emerging onto the domestic scene is right-hand top-order batter Mike Sclanders who made his List A debut for Auckland during the 2022-23 season having previously played both List A and First Class cricket in South Africa.
Northern Districts welcome three newly contracted players to their list including allrounders Josh Brown and Fergus Lellman and wicket-keeper batter Ben Pomare.
While new to the Northern Districts contract list, all three are familiar faces to the region having all made their first-class debut for Northern Districts in the final match of the 2021/22 season.
Lellman and Pomare are also former New Zealand Under 19 representatives, having both featured at the 2020 ICC Under 19 World Cup in South Africa.
Another former New Zealand Under 19 international who earns his first domestic contract is fast bowler Matt Rowe who has been offered a domestic contract by Canterbury for the 2024-25 season.
Rowe, who has progressed through the Central Districts pathway, starred for New Zealand at last years’ ICC Under 19 World Cup in South Africa, claiming New Zealand’s third best ever bowling figures at an Under 19 World Cup – his 5/21 against Afghanistan bettered only by Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
In the South Jamal Todd has earned his first domestic contract after impressing during the 2023-24 season for the Otago Volts.
The left-hand top-order batter featured in seven of the Volts’ eight Plunket Shield matches last summer and also earned a Dream11 Super Smash debut against the Central Stags in January.
The six Major Associations will name their second round of contracted players on August 1.
Coaches
Two new coaches will be at the helm for the first time in the 2024/25 season with former BLACKCAP and Auckland Ace Rob Nicol set to lead his old side in place of Doug Watson who left to coach Scotland, while former Australian cricketer Ashley Noffke has taken over from Dion Ebrahim at Otago.
Nicol makes the move after two seasons as head coach of the Auckland Hearts and following stints as an assistant coach with the WHITE FERNS.
The remaining four teams will have the same coaching set ups as last season with former BLACKCAPS Peter Fulton and BJ Watling leading Canterbury and ND respectively, while former BLACKCAPS bowling coach Shane Jurgensen enters his second season in charge of the Wellington Firebirds.
Glenn Pocknall will again lead the Central Stags’ Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy campaigns while Ben Smith continues as the head coach for the Dream11 Super Smash in the middle of summer.
Northern Districts Cricket
Josh Brown, Joe Carter, Katene Clarke, Kristian Clarke, Henry Cooper, Matthew Fisher, Brett Hampton, Scott Johnston, Fergus Lellman, Robbie O’Donnell, Ben Pomare, Bharat Popli, Snehith Reddy, Jeet Raval, Neil Wagner, Freddy Walker.
Auckland Cricket
Adi Ashok, Louis Delport, Danru Ferns, Cam Fletcher, Matt Gibson, Bevon-John Jacobs, Harjot Johal, Simon Keene, Ben Lister, Jock McKenzie, Will O’Donnell, Mike Sclanders, Sean Solia, Quinn Sunde, Jordan Sussex, George Worker
Central Districts Cricket
Jack Boyle, Doug Bracewell, Tom Bruce, Will Clark, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Joey Field, Curtis Heaphy, Mason Hughes, Jayden Lennox, Brett Randell, Angus Schaw, Brad Schmulian, Ewald Schreuder, Blair Tickner, Ray Toole
Cricket Wellington
Liam Dudding, Nick Greenwood, James Hartshorn, Troy Johnson, Nick Kelly, Sam Mycock, Callum McLachlan, Iain McPeake, Tim Robinson, Gareth Severin, Michael Snedden, Nathan Smith, Peter Younghusband, Logan van Beek
Canterbury Cricket
Chad Bowes, Matt Boyle, Sean Davey, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay, Rhys Mariu, Kenny McClure, Cole McConchie, Angus McKenzie, Edward Nuttall, Cam Paul, Michael Rae, Michael Rippon, Matt Rowe, Fraser Sheat, Henry Shipley
Otago Cricket
Matt Bacon, Leo Carter, Max Chu, Jacob Cumming, Zak Cumming, Dean Foxcroft, Luke Georgeson, Jake Gibson, Andrew Hazeldine, Llew Johnson, Ben Lockrose, Jarrod McKay, Travis Muller, Thorn Parkes, Dale Phillips, Jamal Todd
