Canterbury couldn’t ask for a tougher test to open the four-day Plunket Shield than a star studded Northern Districts side which included current Black Caps Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, Colin de Grandhomme and BJ Watling.
The opening round of the competition will see all Black Caps made available meaning Canterbury coach Brendon Donkers is likely to roll out Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Todd Astle and Matt Henry – all of whom have been part of the side’s build-up to the season.
With the return of several players from club cricket in the United Kingdom, Canterbury came together as a complete unit on September 16. Last week the side played a three-day internal match in Rangiora which saw Latham and Astle show form with the bat – both recording tons.
“The guys have been put under a lot of pressure physically and mentally in the first few weeks, so this week will just be a training week and we’ll taper off ahead of the match against ND,” said Donkers.
The only loss for Canterbury from last season’s squad is tall paceman Kyle Jamieson who has returned to Auckland after finishing studies at Lincoln University.
His place on the contracted played list has been taken by Burnside West University paceman Jackson Latham.
“He has been in our A programme for a couple of seasons now and has really developed his game . . . he’s fitted in really well. Otherwise the core group of contracted players are the same which is what I wanted, I wanted some consistency in that space,” said Donkers.
Canterbury will be looking to build on an improved showing in the four-day competition last season. In 2017-18 they finished last in the competition, but improved to second. Meanwhile, they will be looking for vast improvements with the white ball after finishing last in both the T20 and 50 over competitions last summer.
“We obviously want to win titles and something that we’ve talked a lot about is how we’re going to go about doing that and how we’re going to win games of cricket. We’re not necessarily going to be the best team on paper this year, but we’ll certainly fight and scrap and find a way to win games. I think with the group of guys we’ve got that’s something that they’re really capable of,” said Donkers.
“Strong culture helps with that and that’s what we’re building here, but we’re also developing these guys into some bloody good first-class cricketers.”
“For me it’s about developing players. I want to create the next Matt Henry or the next Neil Wagner, whoever it might me. It’s the same for Dion Ebrahim who is the assistant coach and in charge of our batsmen.
It’s the same for Neil Tindall our strength and conditioning coach. We’re really clear on that.”
One Canterbury player who will have hopes of pushing their case for higher honours this summer is paceman Ed Nuttall. After a frustrating couple of seasons with injury, Nuttall will begin the season with a clean bill of health.
“I can’t remember the last time Ed [Nuttall] was fully fit at the start of the season. He looks in really good form,” said Donkers.
The side will once again be captained by arguably Riccarton High School’s finest ever product Cole McConchie.
Canterbury contracted players for 2019/20: Chad Bowes, Jack Boyle, Blake Coburn, Leo Carter, Andrew Ellis, Cameron Fletcher, Andrew Hazeldine, Jackson Latham, Ken McClure, Cole McConchie, Stephen Murdoch, Ed Nuttall, Fraser Sheat, Henry Shipley, Will Williams, Theo van Woerkom. NZ contracted: Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Todd Astle, Matt Henry.
