Photo Credit: Canterbury Cricket
The 2023/24 home summer of cricket inches another step closer with New Zealand’s six Major Associations finalising their men’s Domestic contracted player rosters.
Each Major Association – Auckland, Northern Districts, Central Districts, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago – names 16 contracted players each year, in a two-step process that was completed this month.
Teams have now filled the last spots on their roster with signings including batsman Rhys Mariu who receives his first professional contract after an impressive start for Canterbury last summer when he posted one century and three half-centuries across four First Class matches.
Mariu represented New Zealand Under-19 at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in 2020 which was captained by bowling-allrounder Jesse Tashkoff who receives Wellington’s final contract after making his First Class debut for the side in 2023.
Tashkoff has additional history in the NZC pathways systems having been involved in two New Zealand Development squads and NZ XI.
Another former New Zealand Under-19 player, and Māori Secondary Schoolboys captain Ollie White has received Otago’s final contract.
The left-hand batsman and left-arm spinner provides a valuable third spin option for the Volts and has continued to make an impression with his work ethic and attitude.
Auckland has signed young pace-bowler Yahya Zeb who has continued to impress with his genuine appetite to bowl fast throughout Auckland’s development programmes.
Batsman Curtis Heaphy receives Central Districts final contract after a successful start to his First Class career with the Stags last summer notching two half-centuries in five matches including 80 on debut.
Heaphy received a contract part-way through last season as a replacement when Blair Tickner was promoted to the BLACKCAPS contract list.
Northern Districts contract list remains completely unchanged after experienced wicket-keeper batter Peter Bocock takes up the final contract.
The first round of contracts, announced in July, saw some key player movements across provincial borders, with Cam Fletcher (Canterbury to Auckland), Michael Rae (Otago to Canterbury), Michael Rippon (Otago to Canterbury), and Luke Georgeson (Wellington to Otago) among the new faces for their teams.
BLACKCAPS pace-bowler Kyle Jamieson, who is set to make his return to international cricket next month, confirmed a move from Auckland back to Canterbury for his Domestic cricket after four seasons with the Aces. While BLACKCAPS top-order batsman Finn Allen confirmed his return to Auckland after three seasons with the Wellington Firebirds.
Major Associations also have the services of their NZC contracted BLACKCAPS when available.
Domestic schedules will be announced in the coming months.
Finalised 2023/24 Men’s Domestic contracts
Auckland: Adithya Ashok, Cole Briggs, Louis Delport, Danru Ferns, Cam Fletcher, Matt Gibson, Ryan Harrison, Harjot Johal, Simon Keene, Ben Lister, Robbie O’Donnell, Will O’Donnell, Sean Solia, Quinn Sunde, George Worker, Yahya Zeb
Northern Districts (defending Dream11 Super Smash champions): Joe Carter, Katene Clarke, Kristian Clarke, Henry Cooper, Matthew Fisher, Zak Gibson, Brett Hampton, Scott Johnston, Scott Kuggeleijn, Bharat Popli, Tim Pringle, Jeet Raval, Tim Seifert, Fred Walker, Joe Walker
Central Districts (defending Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy champions): Jack Boyle, Doug Bracewell, Tom Bruce, Will Clark, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Liam Dudding, Joey Field, Greg Hay, Curtis Heaphy, Jayden Lennox, Ajaz Patel, Brett Randell, Brad Schmulian, Ray Toole, Bayley Wiggins
Wellington: Muhammad Abbas, Nick Greenwood, James Hartshorn, Troy Johnson, Nick Kelly, Callum McLachlan, Iain McPeake, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Gareth Severin, Ben Sears, Michael Snedden, Nathan Smith, Jesse Tashkoff, Peter Younghusband, Logan van Beek
Canterbury: Chad Bowes, Matt Boyle, Leo Carter, Sean Davey, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay, Rhys Mariu, Cole McConchie, Angus McKenzie, Edward Nuttall, Ken McClure, Will O’Rourke, Michael Rae, Michael Rippon, Fraser Sheat, Henry Shipley
Otago: Matt Bacon, Max Chu, Jacob Cumming, Jacob Duffy, Dean Foxcroft, Luke Georgeson, Jake Gibson, Andrew Hazeldine, Llew Johnson, Ben Lockrose, Jarrod McKay, Travis Muller, Thorn Parkes, Dale Phillips, Hamish Rutherford, Ollie White
Name of Author: New Zealand Cricket
The New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, made their Test debut in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth nation to play Test cricket. After waiting 26 years for their first Test win against the West Indies in 1956, they also played their first ODI in 1972–73 against Pakistan. New Zealand are the inaugural World Test Championship champions (2021) and have won the ICC Champions Trophy (2000). They have reached the Cricket World Cup final twice and the T20 World Cup final once.
