Get ready to see a fresh-look Central Stags team as the Stags and Hinds head to Alexandra to open their 2024/25 Dream11 Super Smash account.

The Central Hinds squad has a familiar look, complete with England pro Hollie Armitage back for a second summer with the team; but after a raft of injuries the Stags have two uncapped players on the plane to Central Otago ahead of tomorrow’s games against the Otago Sparks and Volts.

Hawke’s Bay allrounder Toby Findlay is in his first season as a contracted Stag.

The 21-year-old has previously played one first-class Plunket Shield match for the team, debuting as a concussion substitute two seasons ago, and is now a chance of gaining his first T20 cap — along with 20-year-old Sam Cassidy, another up-and-comer from Hawke’s Bay who gets his first call-up for the team in any format.

Cassidy has made an impression with the bat through the CD pathway, and has been brought in to train in the nets and gym with the senior squad intermittently over the last two years.

In action at the Hong Kong International Sixes | supplied

He recently represented New Zealand at the Hong Kong International Sixes, and comes in fresh off smashing a startling 55-ball T20 century for New Zealand Development Men  against Canterbury A.

The Development squad is an additional NZC pathway for young players of Domestic promise, and Cassidy has been involved since 2023. “It brought me out of my comfort zone at first, but it’s been quite good for me, and given me a lot of learning experiences to fall back on,” Cassidy says.

SAM CASSIDY | PHOTOSPORT

But he still didn’t see a call-up coming when Stags T20 coach Ben Smith shoulder-tapped him in the Rodney Green Foundation nets on Friday.

“I was about to bowl a ball and ‘Smudge’ walked up to me and said I’d be travelling with the team to Alexandra,” he says.

“I was a bit speechless, to be honest. ‘Wow — thank you!’ was about all I managed to get out. I’d been planning to spend New Year’s in Gisborne with some friends at a festival.

"Luckily I hadn’t bought a ticket, but I’m very excited about the change in plans.”

Neither Cassidy nor Findlay have been to Alexandra before, but they will be far from alone in that department.

Tomorrow will be the first time the Central Stags have played a Domestic T20 match at Molyneux Park, while the Hinds last played there in 2016 — Hannah Rowe, Rosemary Mair, Thamsyn Newton and Kerry Tomlinson the only squad members to have played a T20 here before.

Cassidy made a name for himself in Hawke’s Bay cricket circles when he was still at Lindisfarne College. He smashed a school First XI record score of 236 not out off 139 balls in a one-dayer against Whanganui Collegiate at 17.

His current summer has been going very well, he says, after a mindshift to playing his own game and not worrying about ‘external’ things and expectations that he can’t control.

“I’ve probably enjoyed my cricket more this summer than in any season in the past, which is saying a lot because I’ve always loved playing.

“I just feel like I’ve been a lot more ‘myself’, able to express myself on the cricket field the way that I wanted to.”

Representing New Zealand at the relaunched Hong Kong International Sixes — a tournament that used to attact the ilk of Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, was a highlight, and his first experience of playing abroad, in sweltering heat.

Making the Stags is another long-held goal.

“It’s a dream come true to be playing cricket at a professional level, not only for myself but as something my parents really hoped would happen for me.

“They have both passed away in recent times. and to do it for them, this is special. They are a big part of where I am now, and continue to inspire me every day.”

 

 

Cassidy and Findlay were both part of the Central Districts A side that won the annual T20 North Island Quad Tournament late last month.

“I love the T20 format because it’s fast-paced, there’s always something happening every ball and you’re always in the game,” says Findlay.

“I guess we’re the generation now that’s grown up with it — watching the Super Smash, Big Bash and IPL on TV.

“From a young age we’ve tried to hit the big ball, hit the ball as far as possible — and on the other side of it, bowl as quick as you can, bowl your bouncers and yorkers to try and stop that carry-on!”

 

Toby Findlay | PHOTOSPORT

Long-limbed Findlay initially felt more confident as a batter in T20s, “but I’d say bowling is now my best skill, after growing into my body and gaining strength and pace.

“Being contracted this season has really helped me on that front, I’ve been able to benefit from all the time and effort that the CD Cricket staff puts in behind the scenes with physical conditioning, the personal training programmes and nutritional expertise.

“There have been a lot of hard efforts and I’ve also looked after my body a lot better.

"Now I just can’t wait for an opportunity to put it into pratice on the park. I’ve played a lot of cricket over the years with and against Sam as well, so for us to be coming into the Stags T20 squad together is a really cool touch.

"I’m stoked for him.”

BLACKCAP Will Young already has a T20 century against the Volts | MBUTCHER

The Stags are without a couple of their most experienced players in premier spinner Ajaz Patel and wicketkeeper-batter Dane Cleaver, both sidelined by injury, while last summer’s T20 player of the season Doug Bracewell is unavailable for this season’s campaign due to overseas commitments.

Patel is likely to miss the entire competition as he recovers from a leg injury sustained in the last round of the Plunket Shield, while Cleaver hands over the wicketkeeping gloves to understudy Curtis Heaphy.

There is still plenty of firepower and experience in the Stags’ squad with the return of BLACKCAP Will Young — the only player to have scored two T20 centuries for the team; with leading bowler Blair Tickner and captain Tom Bruce both with BLACKCAPS credentials on their CV as well.

Joey Field in the frame for his first game of 2024/25

Allrounder Joey Field also makes a welcome return to the squad, in line for his first game since dislocating his shoulder in Dunedin during last season’s competition.

Last summer’s breakout team, the Hinds are fired up for an opening contest against a strong Otago Sparks side that has already completed two matches — a shock loss to the Canterbury Magicians before bouncing back against another strong side, the Auckland Hearts.

Coming off good form in the one-day Hallyburton Johnstone Shield — where the Hinds are in the top two nationally, Central’s women now start fresh in the shorter format that took them all the way to the T20 national final, last summer.

PHOTOSPORT

Mikaela Greig will continue captaining the side in her first season as skipper, while Deepak Joon enters his first Dream11 Super Smash campaign as Head Coach.

Last summer’s captain Natalie Dodd is taking a season off following the birth of her first child, and fielding dynamo Ashtuti Kumar (on the way back from off-season knee surgey) is the only other regular face missing from the first-round squad.

The Hinds’ match is scheduled to get underway at 12.40pm, followed by the Stags at 4.25pm with livescores at www.cdcricket.co.nz and live, ball-by-ball coverage on TVNZ+ and TVNZ Duke.

Things we'd love to see | PHOTOSPORT

After the New Year, Central heads to their first two home rounds, on 4 January against the Wellington Blaze and Firebirds, and 6 January against Northern Brave — both at Nelson’s Saxton Oval.

The 4 January women’s match will be rematch of the 2024 Grand Final, a nailbiter won by the Blaze by just one run.

It’s a chance for any Nelsonians who missed out on BLACKCAPS tickets to see international stars in action for their Domestic teams — including WHITE FERNS World Cup star and Wellington Blaze captain, Melie Kerr, going head-to-head with the Hinds’ own T20 World Cup matchwinner, Rosemary Mair.

Blaze has also signed Australian superstar Ellyse Perry for the match.

The Stags and Hinds, together with Nelson Cricket, will also host a free backyard cricket event and barbecue for young fans to meet the players and win prizes at Victory Square (Wakatu Cricket Club’s grounds) from 3.30pm to 4.30pm on 3 January.

The Nelson public will also have the chance to meet players at Marsden Valley’s newly opened Sprig + Fern Tavern from 3.30pm on 5 January.

ROUND ONE | CENTRAL

12.40PM | 4.25PM

31 December 2024

Molyneux Park, Alexandra

v Otago Sparks and Volts

Tom Bruce — captain, Taranaki

Jack Boyle — Hawke’s Bay

Sam Cassidy — uncapped, Hawke’s Bay

Will Clark — Hawke’s Bay

Joey Field  — Hawke’s Bay

Toby Findlay — uncapped, Hawke’s Bay

Curtis Heaphy  — wicketkeeper, Manawatū

Jayden Lennox — Hawke’s Bay

Brett Randell

Angus Schaw — Hawke’s Bay

Blair Tickner — Hawke’s Bay

Will Young — Taranaki

Head Coach: Ben F. Smith

Assistant Coach: Glenn Pocknall

Contracted players unavailable for selection (injury):

Ajaz Patel, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver

Mason Hughes, Brad Schmulian, Ewald Schreuder

Mikaela Greig — captain, Manawatū

Hollie Armitage — overseas player

Georgia Atkinson — Wairarapa

Ocean Bartlett  — Wairarapa

Flora Devonshire — Hawke’s Bay

Kate Gaging — wicketkeeper, Nelson

Claudia Green — Nelson

Rosemary Mair —  Hawke’s Bay

Emma McLeod — Wairarapa

Thamsyn Newton — Hawke’s Bay

Hannah Rowe — Manawatū

Kerry Tomlinson — Hawke’s Bay

Head Coach: Deepak Joon

Assistant Coach: Greg Hay

Contracted players unavailable for selection

Ashtuti Kumar (return to play protocol following knee surgery)

COMING UP...

Dream11 Super Smash 

12.40PM | 4.25PM 4 January 2025 — Retro Round

Saxton Oval, Stoke, Nelson v Wellington Blaze and Firebirds

Dream11 Super Smash 

12.40PM | 4.25PM 4 January 2025 

Saxton Oval, Stoke, Nelson v Northern Brave men and women

Tickets: www.cdcricket.co.nz 

Article added: Monday 30 December 2024