A new captain, three new faces and two players making a reappearance for the heartland are the key features of the first Central Districts Hinds squad named for New Zealand’s 2017/18 women’s domestic season.

Taranaki’s Monique Rees and Wairarapa teenagers Kate Sims and Georgia Atkinson are all in line to make their Women’s national domestic cricket debuts for the Hinds after having been named today in the squad for the first six matches of the season — the opening Women’s Domestic Twenty20 against Wellington Blaze next Friday at Levin’s Donnelly Park, followed by the opening two rounds of the Women’s One-Day Competition over that weekend; and the T20 round two match against Northern Spirit in Hamilton, followed again by two rounds of the national One-Day Competition at the same venue.

Former New-Zealand born Netherlands international, 2016/17 NZC Maori Scholarship award winner and recent Northern Spirit star Kerry Tomlinson meanwhile makes a welcome return to the team she last represented in the 2011/12 season, and left-arm seamer Kate Stiven also returns to the Hinds after having last appeared for the side in 2014, and having previously performed for the Otago Sparks whilst completing her university studies in Dunedin.

New coach Jamie Watkins said it was exciting times for the Central Hinds as they rebuild towards the future — and look to recapture the exciting form that saw them make the national Twenty20 final two summers ago.

This season, the finals format in both women’s white-ball competitions has been replaced by a round robin format, however players will have more playing opportunities than in previous seasons with an increase in the overall number of fixtures in the women’s domestic calendar.

Said Watkins, “This the first selection of a long season, and there will likely be plenty of opportunity for others knocking on the door outside of the initial 13 selected. It’s exciting to see young players coming through our Central and regional development systems and to have three new players ready to make the step up after working hard through the off-season is very pleasing.”

Wairarapa continues to prove itself as an epicentre of growth in the women’s game with the bulk of the squad emanating from the newly reformed representative women’s side, the Wairarapa Korus.

Uncapped Kate Sims, whose sister Gemma has also made a big impression at CD schools and age-group level, is also an outstanding swimmer for the region and a national age-group champion, having finished in the top 10 in all five of her events and won a bronze medal at the 2017 New Zealand Age Group Championships earlier this year.

Seventeen-year-old Georgia Atkinson, a right-hand batsman and leg-spin bowler, and 18-year-old right-arm bowling allrounder Monique Rees make the step up after having represented the CD Under-18s that defeated Auckland to claim the national title at NZC’s Women’s U-18 tournament last summer, while Rees has also represented the CD Under-21s at national level since 2014.

Anlo van Deventer has stepped into the Central Hinds’ captaincy role following the retirement of Whanganui’s Michelle Mitchell, with 21-year-old WHITE FERNS swing-bowling star Hannah Rowe named vice-captain.

Central Hinds squad for Levin and Hamilton

v Wellington Blaze 24-26 November 2017

v Northern Spirit 1-3 December 2017

Anlo Van Deventer (captain) — Wairarapa

Hannah Rowe (vice-captain) — Manawatu

Jess Watkin — Whanganui

Kerry Tomlinson — Wairarapa

Mikaela Greig — Manawatu

Monique Rees — Taranaki *

Melissa Hansen — Wairarapa

Kate Stiven — Nelson

Kate Sims — Wairarapa

Esther Lanser — Wairarapa

Rosemary Mair — Hawke’s Bay

Georgia Atkinson — Wairarapa

Rebecca Burns — Manawatu *

Coach — Jamie Watkins

Manager — Lisa Grant

• Monique Rees has been named for the squad to play the Levin fixtures against Wellington Blaze, but will be released to play in the National Secondary Schools Finals from December 1-3. Rebecca Burns, who is unavailable for Levin the matches, comes into the squad for the Hamilton matches against Northern Spirit.

Full Central Hinds schedule: Click here