After a sad and unexpected hiatus in the wake of the Cyclone Gabrielle disaster, the CENTRAL STAGS are getting back to doing what they do best this Sunday in the Plunket Shield.

It's the Stags' first red-ball match of 2023, the sixth of eight rounds. Their fifth-round game that was due to be played soon after the cyclone in Napier, hosting the Aces, did not go ahead following the closure of McLean Park so while the team waits for details of a rescheduled fixture, there's a little catching up to do with the other teams who meanwhile continued chalking up points.

The Stags had been sitting in close second on the table behind Canterbury ahead of the cyclone, and now find themselves technically in third, with Canterbury on 71 points after five matches; Wellington Firebirds on 53 in second after five matches; and the Stags still not far behind on 46 points after just the four rounds played.

 

The Stags have already beaten ND once this summer, in Nelson by 279 runs | PHOTOSPORT

Central now heads to Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval to play Northern Districts again who sit one spot behind them on 39 points, ND one of the trio of teams at the foot of the table to have taken just one outright win so far. The Stags handed them a heavy defeat in Nelson in November.

The upcoming match will be the first for Central under ALDIN SMITH in his second stint as Head Coach, following the departure of ROB WALTER to take up his new role as Head Coach of South Africa's white-ball men's team.

A 'home' match for Bay of Plenty-based BRETT RANDELL | PHOTOSPORT

Assisting Smith is former championship-winning Wellington Firebirds Head Coach GLENN POCKNALL. So, it's business as usual for the red-ball squad who are eager to get back out on the park with pent-up energy.

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Stags skipper GREG HAY can’t wait for his first game of the season. It’s only five months late.

The Plunket Shield captain and opening batsman broke his forearm when he was hit in the nets right before the team was due to play its first match of the 2022/23 summer, in October.

After surgery to fix the damage and a plate in his arm, the 92-match veteran had to sit out the entire front half of the season, TOM BRUCE (below) taking over the Stags’ reins for the first four matches.

Hay is now back at last and set to become the Stags' third most capped Plunket Shield player tomorrow, moving ahead of JAMIE HOW (92), with the late MIKE SHRIMPTON (97 caps) and MATHEW SINCLAIR (119) the only players to have represented the team in more first-class matches.

He steps back in against Northern Districts, having inherited a team well-positioned on the table. The Stags will then get to play Canterbury for a second time this summer in the following round in Rangiora, in the uneven, eight-round draw.

With a maximum of 20 points available per match from each of the four remaining matches, it means the business end effectively starts now, says Hay who doesn't want to look too far ahead.

Loves a century against ND!

BRAD SCHMULIAN returns to the scene of his record double ton on debut

PHOTOSPORT

"We've got ND to reckon with first, but yes, it's crucial to be in a good position at this time of the season, or you’re chasing your tail a bit.

"Sometimes it can turn out to be awkward as to who you end up playing twice in the season. You want your fate to be in your own hands, so the best scenario is to play other teams who are at the higher end of the table, and we've got that coming up with Canterbury on the menu."

Bar youngster CURTIS HEAPHY (above) who was meanwhile in action for the New Zealand Development squad and NZ XI v England, most of Hay's players haven't pulled on the kit since the ninth round of The Ford Trophy four weeks ago, in which the Stags swatted aside ND to qualify top for The Ford Trophy Grand Final - another match set to be rescheduled, post cyclone.

Hay knows all too well what it feels like to be hungry to get back on the paddock.

"Obviously I've had a bit of bad run with a couple of freak injuries this year and last year, and two months without playing. Since then I've had a couple of sporadic outings for Nelson, but I still feel like I've hardly played for a year.

"The upside of that is I'm really excited to be back playing for the Stags again.

"You can lose that freshness by this stage of the season, so I’ll have that in my favour. I can put everything into these four weeks. It's a very short season for me but I'm excited to be in a position to win the Plunket Shield this summer."

The 38-year-old rock with 6,367 first-class runs had been on target to get his 100th Plunket Shield cap for the team this summer before injury, but you suspect he'd swap that for a trophy in an blink, in the format that's regarded as the toughest to win.

"All the guys love the format and we’re ready for a big push," says Hay who says it's still business as usual following Walter's departure.

RAY TOOLE | PHOTOSPORT

"Nothing's going to change for us, really. Aldin has been part of our coaching team for the last four or five years now so we all know how we operate."

Like most of the squad, Hay is based in Hawke's Bay and says the team will continue to play with those affected by the cyclone in their thoughts.

“When the power eventually came back after a few days literally in the dark, we learned that, tragically, there were many people who had been far more affected than us,” said Hay.

“It was sobering, and important to our players to get out there with mops and shovels and help our community over the following weeks.

“Now we turn our attention to trying to win this title for them, and I don’t think it needs to be said that the impact of the floods will stay with us and the community for a long time.

"The work goes on, and as individuals and team we will continue to reach out and do what we can to help out as we all try to get back to normal.”

If you're not in Mt Maunganui, follow the Plunket Shield match with our free livestream and livescoring here at www.cdcricket.co.nz from 10.30am each day, and catch exclusive behind-the-scenes content on our Central Stags instagram channel.

The toss takes place at 10am on Sunday.

Round Six • 2022/23

CENTRAL STAGS v NORTHERN DISTRICTS

Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui

10.30am • Sunday 5 to Wednesday 6 March 2023

SQUAD

GREG Hay (c) — Nelson, RH opening batsman

TOM Bruce — Taranaki, RH batsman, off-spin bowler 

DOUG Bracewell — Hawke’s Bay, RH pace allrounder

JOSH Clarkson — Nelson, RH pace allrounder

DANE Cleaver (w) — Manawatu, RH wicketkeeper-batsman

JAYDEN Lennox — Hawke’s Bay, LA spin bowler

CURTIS Heaphy — Manawatu, RH batsman

AJAZ Patel — Hawke’s Bay, LH off-spin bowler

BRETT Randell — RH pace allrounder

BRAD Schmulian — Hawke’s Bay, RH batsman, leg-spin bowler

BEN Smith — Whanganui, RH batsman

RAY Toole — Manawatu, LH pace bowler

Head Coach: ALDIN Smith

Contracted players unavailable for selection:

BLAIR Tickner — Hawke's Bay (BLACKCAPS Test squad)

WILL Young — Taranaki (BLACKCAPS Test squad)

SETH Rance — Wairarapa (shoulder injury)

LIAM Dudding — Hawke's Bay (forearm injury)

JOEY Field — Hawke's Bay (shoulder injury)

Follow the campaign with hashtags:

#plunketshield #lovethestags 

NORTHERN DISTRICTS SQUAD

Jeet Raval (c)

Katene Clarke

Kristian Clarke

Henry Cooper

Colin de Grandhomme

Brett Hampton

Fergus Lellman

Bharat Popli

Tim Pringle

Mitch Santner

Tim Seifert

Joe Walker

Article added: Friday 03 March 2023