Five years on from his first New Zealand A tour of India, TOM BRUCE can’t wait for a second crack.

The intervening seasons have been a self-described personal rollercoaster ride for our Central Stags white-ball captain, but his confidence has never been better coming off his T20 career-best unbeaten 93* plus back-to-back first-class double centuries at the end of last summer.

Now, he’s relishing the opportunity to return to India — regarded as one of the toughest A tours — as a more experienced player.

Bruce will co-captain NZA with Aces skipper and fellow 2021/22 Domestic Player of the Year, Robbie O’Donnell.

The pair will lead the team through three first-class fixtures in Bengaluru (Bangalore) followed by three one-dayers in Chennai across September — and Bruce will have fellow Stag DANE CLEAVER for company as well as Head Coach ROB WALTER who has been named to lead the NZA coaching group for the first time.

Cleaver will once again share wicket-keeping duties with Cam Fletcher, while BLAIR TICKNER would also have been winging his way to India but has a prior engagement: his wedding.

One of eight players in the NZA squad with International experience, Bruce has played 17 T20is for the BLACKCAPS — most recently in February 2020 in NZ against India. He has two T20i half centuries to his name, but wasn’t able to pin down a more permanent place in the team.

He went on to captain the Stags to the Dream11 Super Smash T20 trophy in 2019 and, while contributing consistently with the bat in the white-ball formats, endured a few lean seasons with the bat in the Plunket Shield until bursting back last summer with his most productive season yet.

Bruce scored 858 first-class runs from 13 innings, more than his previous three seasons put together — when he couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

“I’ve certainly had my fair share of ups and downs,” Bruce says, “but I’m in a pretty good place at the moment and I’m really stoked to be on this tour and to be chosen to lead alongside Robbie.”

Bruce is in fact the only survivor from the tough 2017/18 NZA tour of India, and is looking forward to making those lessons count this time around.

“I felt we were in a pretty good place last time we set off to tour there. We had a pretty experienced team then as well, but we got handed a few lessons by India A.

“They have a lot of quality players and will be very strong again, and it’s important we go over there to put our best foot forward.

“A tour of India is always a great touring opportunity — a chance to experience and learn in foreign conditions, and for a number of our players it will be their first experience of India.

More good news for DANE CLEAVER

“But we also have a lot of guys who are banging down the door for the BLACKCAPS and are coming off BLACKCAPS or international cricket around the world this winter, so it’s important to remember it’s not just a learning opportunity. We also really want to beat them! So I’m looking forward to getting stuck in, and also drawing on my previous experience with an idea of what to expect, the conditions, the opposition — knowing what to train and prepare for.”

The matches will be the first time a New Zealand A side has played overseas since the 2018 tour to the United Arab Emirate to play Pakistan A. Five of the players selected in this year’s squad have yet to represent NZA (Chad Bowes, Matt Fisher, Ben Lister, Robbie O’Donnell and Joe Walker) while Logan van Beek returns to the NZ A programme fresh off representing the Netherlands at international level, with ICC eligibility rules allowing him to play for both sides concurrently. 

The bulk of the NZA squad has just spent a week training at NZC’s High Performance Centre in Lincoln and will depart for India on 26 September, returning a fortnight before the start of the home Plunket Shield summer.

STAGS coach ROB WALTER named NZA coach for the first time

It will meanwhile be business as usual in the Stags’ preseason programme, with plans and camps already inked in, and CD coaching staff to deputise for Walter while he is offshore.

BLACKCAPS selector Gavin Larsen commented, “We have an exciting mix in this group, including players who dominated our last home season like Robbie and Tom, alongside emerging talents like (ND fast bowler) Matt Fisher and (ND spinner) Joe Walker. 

“We saw the likes of Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy and Dane Cleaver experiencing success with the BLACKCAPS in the recent Series in Europe, and we know their experience will be invaluable to this group. 

“With a mix of red-ball and white-ball matches, it’s a great chance for us to see the players in a variety of situations against what we know will be a very strong home side. 

“The conditions present a great opportunity for the spin-bowling group in particular to showcase their skills and put their best foot forward ahead of future tours and ICC events in the subcontinent. 

“Touring India is one of the great experiences for any cricketer and I know the players and staff are looking forward to the challenge.” 

Coach ROB WALTER will be supported by Canterbury Assistant Coach Brendon Donkers and NZC High Performance Coach, former BLACKCAPS spin bowler Paul Wiseman. 

NEW ZEALAND A

2022 Tour of India

TOM BRUCE — co-captain — Central Stags

DANE CLEAVER — wicketkeeper — Central Stags

Chad Bowes* — Canterbury

Joe Carter — Northern Districts

Mark Chapman — Auckland

Jacob Duffy — Otago

Matt Fisher* — Northern Districts

Cameron Fletcher — wicketkeeper — Canterbury

Ben Lister* — Auckland

Robbie O’Donnell* — co-captain — Auckland

Rachin Ravindra — Wellington

Michael Rippon — Otago

Sean Solia — Auckland

Logan van Beek — Wellington

Joe Walker* — Northern Districts 

* Uncapped for NZA 

SCHEDULE v India A 

1st four-day match • Sept 1-4 (Bengaluru)

2nd four-day match • Sept 8-11 (Bengaluru)

3rd four-day match • Sept 15-18 (Bengaluru) 

1st one-day match • Sept 22 (Chennai)

2nd one-day match • Sept 25 (Chennai

)3rd one-day match • Sept 27 (Chennai) 

Livescoring, full schedule: visit nzc.nz or the NZC app

Article added: Friday 19 August 2022