Expert Turf Taranaki Premier Cricket back with a bang this weekend

Ryan Evans

Two double-header rounds of T20 cricket will kickstart the 2022-23 Expert Turf Premier Grade competitions, beginning this weekend.

The T20 rounds, hosted at grounds in New Plymouth tomorrow (Saturday) and Hawera and Stratford the following week are expected to provide plenty of action before the 50-over competition begins on October 15.

The two-day competition then gets underway in late November and runs through until the end of March. Meanwhile, the T20 competition takes a break after the opening weekends and returns on Tuesday evenings in January and February.

The squads are taking shape, and the opening of the international borders following Covid means a number of clubs have taken the opportunity to bring in foreign talent to bolster the ranks.

Last year’s pace-setters New Plymouth Marist United and New Plymouth Old Boys contested the final in all three formats last season (with Marist taking the three-peat), and both feature settled looking squads.

The departure of Taranaki opening bowler Shay Smith to Hawera is the only loss for Marist, who also welcome a number of new players including Taranaki player Robson Chapman as well as George Boon, both from last year’s FDMC side. They will be expecting to again be in the hunt with top Taranaki players such as Dean Robinson, Ryan Watson, as well as new Taranaki squad member Jared Cunningham in the mix.

NPOB are in a similar boat, with the departure of just one player, Ben Mitchell, from last year. Standout New Plymouth Boys High School spinner Liam Carr is among three recruits joining established top players such as Mattie Thomas, Jordan Gard, Jared Ritson, Kyle Pillay and Ben Frewin. New Zealand Cricket contracted player Will Young has also been named in their squad.

Woodleigh continues to rebuild its squad, with nine players departing from 2021-22, including the experienced Ken Roycroft, Taylor Williams and Lincoln Reed. Familiar faces back with the side include captain Josh Roguski, Shaun Sullivan, Josh Quinney, Blake Barrett and Bailey Meadows. Newcomers to the squad are headlined by two young English players, Connor Poulton and Alisdair Faull and other new players include Zac Betteridge, Thomas Graham and Harkiran Rai.

Francis Douglas will be joined by an English player-coach, Tom Bigg, to help fill the void left by Chapman’s departure. Bigg is expected to arrive in the province later in October. Aside from Chapman and Boon, other losses include Josh Elder to Inglewood and Aaron Manning-Fleming to Stratford. Jack Kelsen and Luca Heyen are new players for the college this year, while a strong core of experienced Year 13 players will be hopeful of keeping the side more than competitive. These players include Keegan Boon, Lenny Chapman, Thomas Larkin and Kalviru and Indusara Medagedara.

Similarly, New Plymouth Boys High School fielded a young side last season and will be hoping that pays dividends this year, with the only departures being Carr and Eli Darth. Former Namibian international JB Burger is again player-coach for the school side, and Nick Bettington is the team’s other adult player.

Debutants include Nate Riddick and Riley Parker, while a large contingent of returning players is headlined by Jacob Mitchell, Fianlay Barnes, Reeve Nelley and Josh Gard.

Inglewood’s side is another with a settled look to it. Four players, including Brent Stevens, Clint Frost and Robert McLeod are leaving, with another four slipping in to take their place. These include Elder from FDMC, and the returning Jesse Sabine and Sam Broadmore. Korben Brocklehurst is the other newcomer, and they will join a host of returning players who regularly see the side in the hunt during the post season, including the likes of Aaron Taylor, Jason Dombroski, Luke Dravitzki, Chris Logan and Bailey Wisnewski.

Stratford is welcoming Netherlands international cricketer Clayton Floyd for the season. At full strength, the club will field three current or former international players with Floyd alongside Namibian representative and Taranaki men’s coach, Chris Coombe, along with last season’s NZ domestic player of the year, Tom Bruce.

They’d be joined by current Taranaki players Liam Muggeridge and Phil Barraclough, experienced club men Grant Commerford, Paul Lightoller, Neil Harper, Lachlan Drummond and Kayne Dunlop, along with some promising youngsters such as Manning-Fleming, Alex Rikys, William Foreman, Terry Norgate and Corey Bailey.

Hawera United Cricket Club is another planning for the arrival of an international player - Zimbabwean Tinashe Chimbambo - as player/coach. They also welcome Taranaki opening bowler Smith from Marist to join a strong bowling attack also featuring Taranaki bowler Ethan Keller and New Zealand Māori U18 rep Reece Holmes. The squad has lost Robert Northcott as a player this season to injury and others on the move are Nick Walker, Luke Kerehoma and Cody McGrath. Players like Liam and Shaun Fowler, Liam Heibner, Ngoni Mupamba and Mason Fleming are back ensuring continuity from previous seasons.

Full squads:

Hawera:

Ethan Keller, Shay Smith, Liam Heibner, Liam Fowler, Shaun Fowler, Liam Nelley, Ngoni Mupamba, Tinashe Chimbambo (player/coach), Charith Gajanayaka, Reece Holmes, Sam Laing, Mason Fleming, Jared McLeod, Rueben Nelley, Tyran Wallace. Robert Northcott (assistant coach/manager), Kerry Fowler (manager), Dion Clement (scorer).

NPOB:

Mattie Thomas (captain), Kyle Pillay (vc), William Young, Davis Mills, Josh Borrell, Ben Frewin, Jordan Gard, Myles Simkin, Sebastian Lauderdale-Smith, Callum Stuart, Oliver Burbidge, Ryan Gilmour, Viranchi Upadhyay, Jordi Fettis, Hayden Downes, Liam Carr, Sean White, Jack Parker, Jackson Braddock Pajo, Jarrod Ritson.

Woodleigh:

Josh Roguski (captain), Josh Quinney, Shaun Sullivan, Bailee Meadows, Mitchell Proffit, Morne Pistorius, Blake Barrett, Harmandeep Sharma, Tyler Slingsby, Connor Poulton, Thomas Graham, Jakcob Schrader, Zac Betteridge, Jason McGrath, Barnaby Kelly, Alasdair Faull, Harkiran Rai.

NPMU:

Dean Robinson, Ryan Watson, Kurt Leuthart, Michael Blanks, Robbie Yule, Bryce Hannam, Sam Fastier, Jacob Leuthart-Richards, Jarred Cunningham, Shailen Sukdhoe, Kieran Deegan, Joshua Barrett, Jesse Vertongen, Sean Mosquera, Jack Krutz, Gareth Duffy, George Boon, Robson Chapman, Max Dowd, Matthew Sim, Daniel Bernet.

NPBHS:

Jacob Mitchell, Riley Bettington, Josh Gard, Chester Oldfield, Kip Harris, Hrishi Bolar, Logan Hislop, Brayden Baker, Fianlay Barnes, Hugo Roy, William Jull, Hakeem Faider, Reeve Nelley, Nate Riddick, Riley Parker, Cooper Patterson, Nick Bettington, JB Burger (player/coach).

Inglewood:

Aaron Taylor, Aaron Zame, Bailey Wisnewski (captain), Chris Logan, Jason Dombroski, Jesse Sabine, Josh Elder, Korben Brocklehurst, Luke Dravitzki, Matt Simpson, Richard Clough, Sam Darth, Troy Chilcott (vc), Tyla Judson.

Stratford:

Liam Muggeridge (captain), Clayton Floyd, Tom Bruce, Chris Coombe, Denis Milhalijevich, Phil Barraclough, Lachlan Drummond, Aaron Manning-Fleming, Grant Commerford, Paul Lightoller, Terry Norgate, Neil Harper, Kayne Dunlop, Corey Bailey, Caleb Jackson, Alex Rikys, William Foreman, Ryan Anderson, Scott Anderson, Oli Hall.

FDMC:

Lenny Chapman, Thomas Larkin, Sam Taylor, Keegan Boon, Connor McLean, Indusara Medagedara, Luca Heyen, Jack Kelsen, Jack Southern, Samuel Webby, Asher Ryan, Lucas Vassiliou, Thomas Watson, Kalviru Medagedara, Tom Bigg (player/coach), Nick Taylor (coach), Mark Wales (manager), Guy Fisher (mindset and performance coach).

The full schedule for the T20 and 50-over matches can be found here on PlayHQ.