STAGS NAME TEAM FOR SEASON OPENER
New coach GREG HAY has named his first Stags squad and there are no surprises as the team barrels into their first game of the season.
The Stags are playing the Wellington Firebirds at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth from 10.30am on Saturday, after a week of wild spring weather that will hopefully settle in time for cricket across the country this Labour Weekend, the traditional opening of the Domestic season.
The Stags beat the Firebirds at the same place last summer, in a two-run thriller sealed by a JAYDEN LENNOX career-best four-fa, propelling the Stags into the Finals.
Lennox heads into his second summer as the team’s Ford Trophy skipper and, while the Stags do have a handful of experienced players unavailable, there is plenty of experience and class left on the park.
Curtis Heaphy and the team celebrate
last summer's victory over the Firebirds | PHOTOSPORT
Opening paceman BRETT RANDELL is recovering from surgery to fix a broken collarbone and frozen shoulder, after a hellishly unlucky break on the normally sponge-like outfield of Eden Park’s outer oval late last summer.
DOUG BRACEWELL and JOEY FIELD are also in the injury tent, while WILL YOUNG has headed off to join the BLACKCAPS for the one-dayers against England.
But there’s still plenty to see at Pukekura, with plenty of interest in DEAN FOXCROFT, back from Otago and set to play his first Ford Trophy match for the team since November 2018, which was coincidentally also against the Firebirds.
Lennox is set to play his 50th List A one-dayer in Saturday’s match, with 45 of those for the Stags and the balance for New Zealand A for whom he has impressed at every turn.
JOSH CLARKSON and last year's breakout player, CURTIS HEAPHY, along with Foxcroft, have also repped New Zealand A this year and with a good number of the regular Firebirds roster now away with the BLACKCAPS, the Stags should sense an opportunity to make an opening statement.
Central finished in the right half of the table last season, making the 2v3 Elimination Final in Dunedin but bettered on the day by a class Jimmy Neesham century.
The Firebirds meanwhile have a few points to prove after finishing second to last, albeit on a fairly tight table last summer.
And that’s the beauty of the New Zealand competition — just six teams with no time to waste in a double round robin, no weak sides, and every team in with a chance.
The Stags last won this title in 2023, a special win not only for the cricket on display — Clarkson scoring an unbeaten matchwinning century against Canterbury, but for the fact the team came back and did The Ford Trophy / Plunket Shield national title double after a month’s disruption due to Cyclone Gabrielle.
The Stags have had a strong preseason build-up centred around the team's training base at Mitre 10 Park and a series of warm-up fixtures against the Auckland Aces and Northern Districts in Napier.
Cricket and weather have always been intertwined, so fingers crossed that the improving forecast for Saturday at Pukekura Park holds true and the Central Stags get a chance to get CD’s 75th Jubilee season officially off to a fine start.
Gates open at 10am for a scheduled 10.30am start for the 50-over contest, with livescores and a free livestream here at cdcricket.co.nz
2025/26 | ROUND ONE
Central Stags v Wellington Firebirds
10.30am | Saturday 25 October 2025
Pukekura Park • New Plymouth
FREE ADMISSION
Livescores and FREE livestream
www.cdcricket.co.nz
JAYDEN Lennox - captain, Hawke's Bay
TOM Bruce - Taranaki
WILL Clark - Hawke's Bay
JOSH Clarkson - Nelson
DANE Cleaver - wicketkeeper, Manawatū
TOBY FINDLAY - Hawke's Bay
DEAN Foxcroft - Hawke’s Bay
CURTIS Heaphy - Manawatū
AJAZ Patel - Hawke's Bay
BRAD Schmulian - Hawke's Bay
BLAIR Tickner - Hawke's Bay
RAY Toole - Manawatū
Head Coach: GREG Hay (debut)
Assistant Coach: ALDIN Smith
Contracted players unavailable for selection
Will Young (BLACKCAPS ODI Series v England)
Injured: Doug Bracewell, Joey Field, Brett Randell
THE OPPONENTS
Article added: Friday 24 October 2025
