Premier Squads Announced!

🏏𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓/𝟐𝟔 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧!!

Huge thanks to our premier competition sponsors – Expert Turf

Getting underway this Saturday, the new edition of the grade features a couple of scheduling changes.

Due to popular demand, the T20 competition returns to a full round robin, with the first four rounds to be played over two “double header” Saturdays to kick the season off this weekend and next.

Teams will play two matches each on each Saturday, before the competition pauses and resumes its Tuesday evening slot in January.

Changes to the representative schedule mean the 50-over competition has been moved from its traditional pre-Christmas slot, replaced by the declaration cricket round robin, which returns from Labour Weekend with a couple of minor adjustments following feedback from its pilot season.

The 50-over competition will begin at the conclusion of the declaration round robin and will run from mid-December through to February, before the Championship and Plate 2-day divisions get underway.

Most squads have a fairly similar look to how they lined up last season.
Defending triple champions Nag N’ Noggin NPMU and last years three time beaten grand finalists Merit RV New Zealand NPOB have again named squads with plenty of depth, which will be essential as the two sides can expect to lose a number of players from December through to at least February – if not longer if the Taranaki side can hang onto the Hawke Cup.

Cullum Tito is one new face for Marist, after some strong showings for Pihama in Division 1 cricket in recent years. NPOB welcome Davis Mills back from England as well as Callum Stuart and former Whitaker Civil Engineering FDMC fast bowler Lucas Vassiliou.
Metcalfe Real Estate Hawera United, Civil Logistics Inglewood, and Stratford all field sides with mostly familiar faces. Hawera will again look to threaten the leaders with an established group of quality premier cricketers headlined by Trent McGrath but with any number capable of star turns when he is away, Inglewood welcomes back former rep-cricketer Luke Dravitzki to help bolster the side after a disappointing 24/25 campaign, while Stratford is another side that will need plenty of depth once the rep season kicks in and a number of their top players such as Liam Muggeridge, Chris Coombe and John Beale leave for Taranaki duties. Stumble Inn Woodleigh has attracted a number of newcomers including Srikanth Iyer from Christchurch, Uys Conradie from Nelson and Tom Appleton and Henry Shaw from the UK to complement a squad that was often in the hunt, but ultimately too inconsistent last season.

Turnover is often high in the two high school First XIs but both NPBHS and FDMC will be looking to continue the development of their players. Key names for NPBHS include adult player/coach Dean Robinson, who will enjoy a full season with the side now his illustrious representative career has finished, and senior players such as Taene Nelley, Tyler McCullough and Riley Staddon. FDMC will play without adult players this season, meaning the importance of senior schoolboys Asher Ryan and Jake Rangiwahia can’t be overstated to the young side.

All teams will be looking to get their season underway with a bang this Saturday, with Round 1 and 2 matches in Hawera and Inglewood. Some of the key morning matches are likely to include Stratford vs NPOB in Hawera, and Inglewood vs Woodleigh at Karo Park, while in the afternoon Hawera hosts NPOB in a matchup that gave us some mouth-watering games last season.

Good luck to all!

Full draws and competition information including live scoring and points tables are available to view here at PlayHQ: https://tinyurl.com/Premier-Draws