(I promise that will be the last pun about a certain Welsh singer.)
Tom Jones is in line to make a surprise debut appearance for the Otago Volts when their Plunket Shield four-day campaign begins against Wellington at the Basin Reserve today.
Jones, a right-handed top-order batter who turned 19 in September, is the grandson of former New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney, and was selected for the New Zealand under-19 squad at 17.
He has relocated from Auckland to Dunedin this summer and began the local club competition with a century for the CDK Hounds on opening day.
"He’s an impressive young man," Otago coach Josh Tasman-Jones said yesterday.
"He’s young, but ever since he’s been down here, he’s impressed. He’s technically very sound, he’s a quick learner, he’s comfortable in his own skin, and I’ve got no doubt he’ll adapt quickly to the environment of professional sport."
Jones accompanied the Volts on a preseason trip and "did not look out of place at all", Tasman-Jones said.
It is a very new-look Otago first-class squad.
Thorn Parkes and Jarrod McKay are the only players who appeared in all eight games last year, returning alongside Jacob Cumming (six), Max Chu (five before he had hip surgery), Matt Bacon (four) and captain Luke Georgeson (four before getting injured).
Dale Phillips, Dean Foxcroft and Travis Muller have all left Otago, and middle-order dasher Llew Johnson is not included.
New recruits Danru Ferns — back from a finger injury — Jack Boyle and Troy Johnson will play their first Plunket Shield games for Otago.
Ferns (Auckland) and Boyle (CD) were regulars for other provinces in red-ball cricket last year, but Johnson has not played first-class cricket since November 2023.
Cumming earns his first Volts selection of the season and will be eager to build on a strong finish to last summer and bump up a modest first-class record of three 50s in 46 innings (average 24.81).
A late addition to the squad was Black Caps allrounder Glenn Phillips, who has had a long spell out with injury.
Tasman-Jones is confident the Volts, who went winless in the early rounds of the one-day competition, have a squad to be competitive in the Plunket Shield.
"We’ve got a couple of guys who have been around the domestic scene for 10 years or so, and they bring a real strength for our younger guys in the group.
"There’s a spine of guys who have played plenty of four-day cricket for Otago, so I think it’s a nice combination of experience and youth.
"It’s a new combination, and it might take a wee bit to bed in, but the boys are gelling really well.
"We haven’t had the results we’d like at the start of the season, but spirits are good and we know we’re close, and the boys are excited for the change of format."
Otago finished fifth in the Plunket Shield last season with one win and three draws from eight games.
— Black Caps star Daryl Mitchell is in doubt for the rest of the ODI series against the West Indies.
Mitchell had a scan on his groin in Christchurch yesterday after experiencing discomfort in his thigh while scoring his seventh ODI century in Sunday’s seven-run win at Hagley Oval.
Canterbury veteran Henry Nicholls has been called into the squad as cover and was assembling with the squad in Napier yesterday ahead of the second ODI at McLean Park tomorrow.
Nicholls has been in hot form for Canterbury in the Ford Trophy, leading the scoring charts with 306 runs at 76.50, including back-to-back centuries.
Plunket Shield
Basin Reserve, starts today
Otago: Luke Georgeson (captain), Matt Bacon, Jack Boyle, Max Chu, Jacob Cumming, Danru Ferns, Troy Johnson, Tom Jones, Ben Lockrose, Jarrod McKay, Thomas O’Connor, Thorn Parkes, Glenn Phillips.
Wellington: Tom Blundell (captain), Liam Dudding, Nick Greenwood, James Hartshorn, Nick Kelly, Callum McLachlan, Sam Mycock, Tim Robinson, Gareth Severin, Michael Snedden, Jesse Tashkoff, Peter Younghusband.
