TYLER ANNAND
TYLER ANNAND GETS FIRST STAGS CALL-UP
The newest contracted face on the CENTRAL STAGS' roster gets to experience first-class cricket for the first time this week.
Big young Hawke's Bay paceman TYLER ANNAND is fresh off a stunning haul of 6/19 for CENTRAL DISTRICTS A against Wellington A across the road at Nelson Park last week, and now has the chance of stepping on to McLean Park as the Stags begin their Plunket Shield national championship campaign.
Whether that is as part of the playing XI or as 12th man will be revealed when new captain TOM BRUCE tosses the coin tomorrow morning at 10AM, but either way it's another exciting step in the 20-year-old's career.
The Stags selectors have otherwise gone for the same squad that went through the first five rounds of The Ford Trophy unchanged, with spinner ANGUS SCHAW having carried the drinks in all of those five one-dayers.
Annand comes in for JOSH CLARKSON who is now representing the BLACKCAPS on their tour of Sri Lanka, alongside WILL YOUNG who has headed direct from the successful Test Series in India, where he was named Player of the Series.
Third Test matchwinner AJAZ PATEL is unavailable as part of his recovery from the Series, and will rejoin the Stags squad ahead of the Plunket Shield's second round in Nelson.
As detailed in our Tom Bruce captaincy announcement earlier this week, the match at McLean marks a new era for the Stags after the retirement of longtime and successful skipper, GREG HAY.
The first match of the red-ball summer sees the Otago Volts, under a new captain and coach, returning to pick up where they left off - which was a crushing innings defeat at the hands of the Stags in Hay's swansong match at the end of last season.
The team is coming off an Innings Victory at the same ground | MBUTCHER
The Volts have since lost two of their leading pacemen, with Matt Bacon and Andrew Hazeldine both injured in their one-dayer in Dunedin against the Stags last week.
With senior allrounder Jacob Duffy meanwhile on tour in Sri Lanka, that's seen the southerners send no fewer than three uncapped players in this format to Napier: spinner Zac Cumming, pace bowler Toby Hart and batting allrounder Hunter Kindley who played one Ford Trophy match for the Volts in early 2023.
Stability is meanwhile the name of the game for the CENTRAL STAGS whose top order batters dominated The Ford Trophy, with strike bowler BLAIR TICKNER topping the wickets list nationally, despite coming through the first white-ball rounds with just one big win to show for it.
Already with skin in the game, Bruce will be keen for the team to get off to a winning start as the new full-time skipper over the next four days in Napier.
The opportunity awaits to build some momentum across the next four matches that crucially sets up the chances of closing out the title at the back end of summer, when the last four rounds of the competition take place.
In between, all teams will switch to T20 mode for the Dream11 Super Smash and then finish off The Ford Trophy one-dayers.
Plunket Shield is free admission cricket, with a scheduled start time of 10.30am for every four-day match. The toss occurs at 10am on the first day.
2024/25 | ROUND ONE
Central Stags v Otago Volts
10.30am Mon 11-Thur 14 November 2024
McLean Park, Napier
FREE LIVESTREAM
FREE ADMISSION
TOM Bruce - captain, Taranaki
TYLER Annand - uncapped, Hawke's Bay
JACK Boyle - Hawke's Bay
WILL Clark - Hawke's Bay
DANE Cleaver - wicketkeeper, Manawatū
CURTIS Heaphy - Manawatū
JAYDEN Lennox - Hawke's Bay
BRETT Randell
ANGUS Schaw - Hawke's Bay
BRAD Schmulian - Hawke's Bay
BLAIR Tickner - Hawke's Bay
RAY Toole - Manawatū
Head Coach: GLENN Pocknall
Assistant Coach: ALDIN Smith
OTAGO VOLTS SQUAD
Luke Georgeson - captain
Leo Carter
Max Chu - vice-captain, wicketkeeper
Zac Cumming - uncapped
Jake Gibson
Toby Hart - uncapped
Llew Johnson
Hunter Kindley - uncapped
Jarrod McKay
Travis Muller
Thorn Parkes
Dale Phillips
Livescores and a free livestream here at
Contracted Stags players unavailable for selection
Ajaz Patel - unavailable
Will Young, Josh Clarkson - BLACKCAPS white-ball series in Sri Lanka
Joey Field - return to play protocol following leg injury
Toby Findlay - return to play protocol following hand injury
Ewald Schreuder - injury
Article added: Sunday 10 November 2024
