Photo Credit: New Zealand Cricket
New Zealand’s six Major Associations have today announced their first round of contracted male players for the 2024/25 domestic summer including some key player movements and a host of fresh faces earning their first domestic contract offers.
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 a further player 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.
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 have been offered 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.
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, 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, George Worker
Central Districts Cricket
Jack Boyle, Doug Bracewell, Tom Bruce, Will Clark, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Joey Field, Curtis Heaphy, Jayden Lennox, Brett Randell, Brad Schmulian, Blair Tickner, Ray Toole
Cricket Wellington
Liam Dudding, Nick Greenwood, James Hartshorn, Troy Johnson, Nick Kelly, 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, Michael Rae, Michael Rippon, Matt Rowe, Fraser Sheat, Henry Shipley
Otago Cricket
Matt Bacon, Leo Carter, Max Chu, Jacob Cumming, Dean Foxcroft, Luke Georgeson, Jake Gibson, Andrew Hazeldine, Llew Johnson, Ben Lockrose, Jarrod McKay, Travis Muller, Thorn Parkes, Dale Phillips, Jamal Todd
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.
