Equipped Angles
Flying Kiwis transfer watch, Blackcaps vs West Indies, Plunket Shield & HBJ Shield, OFC Pro League developments, Warriors & Kiwi-NRL notes, and more
Scotty’s Word
As I’m typing this early Thursday morning, I am equipped with two different angles to cover Blackcaps selecting Ajaz Patel and/or Kristian Clarke. Patel is part of the spin department and here’s what you need to know about longform spin in Aotearoa right now...
Five Blackcaps have taken 20+ Test wickets since start of 2024 and three are spinners...
Mitchell Santner: 31w @ 19.8avg/2.8rpo
Glenn Phillips: 24w @ 35.4avg/3.7rpo
Ajaz Patel: 23w @ 27.9avg/3.8rpo
The leading wicket-takers in Plunket Shield are both spinners who are based in northern regions...
Rohit Gulati: 22w @ 22.6avg/2.8rpo (Auckland)
Tim Pringle: 19w @ 25.5avg/2.5rpo (ND)
Auckland have been playing two specialist spinners with lefty orthodox Gulati joining leggy Aditha Ashok. Both have played all four games and are two of the three Auckland bowlers who have churned out 100+ overs. Gulati’s 178.1 overs are second in Plunket Shield.
Northern Districts have deployed Jeet Raval’s leggies and Henry Cooper’s offies alongside lefty ortho Pringle. Pringle has bowled the most overs in Plunket Shield with 192, with Cooper (58ov) and Raval (54.2ov) bowling 50+ overs each.
Auckland have two spinners combining for 312.5 overs. ND have three spinners combining for 304.5 overs.
Clarke hasn’t been a dominant force with the ball this season but, again, we are dealing in the 11th-ish seamer bracket here and having already been around the ODI squad he is clearly viewed favourably by Blackcaps decision makers. Clarke has been solid with the ball and has been one of ND’s best seamers in recent years, while also being in better form with the bat this season.
This is less about Clarke and more about how he is part of a talented group of young seaming all-rounders in Aotearoa. Keep in mind that Nathan Smith, Zak Foulkes and Muhammad Abbas lead this group with Smith and Abbas out of action right now.
Auckland have three lads in the list below with Simon Keene putting up scores of 52 and 152 in the latest round of Plunket Shield, while also being fourth for wickets. I’ve included Josh Clarkson in this group even though he’s a bit older and another funky wrinkle is how Canterbury’s Cameron Paul has the same skillset coming out of the same Darfield club as Foulkes.
Seamy all-rounders in Plunket Shield
Simon Keene: 279 runs @ 46.5avg/81sr | 14w @ 24.5avg/3.1rpo (Auckland)
Jock McKenzie: 62 runs @ 15.5avg/42sr | 9w @ 28.7avg/3.5rpo (Auckland)
Ryan Harrison: 161 runs @ 53.6avg/40sr | 7w @ 45.4avg/4.7rpo (Auckland)
Kristian Clarke: 150 runs @ 37.5avg/53sr | 7w @ 40avg/3rpo (ND)
Josh Clarkson: 71 runs @ 14.2avg/45sr | 13w @ 25avg/3.6rpo (CD)
Will Clark: 94 runs @ 15.6avg/54sr | 1w @ 112avg/4.4rpo (CD)
Cameron Paul: 25 runs @ 25avg/40sr | 5w @ 22.8avg/3.6rpo (Canterbury)
Luke Georgeson: 320 runs @ 106.6avg/40sr | 13w @ 30.6avg/3.5rpo (Otago)
My sneaky favourites are McKenzie and Georgeson. McKenzie is struggling for runs but he’s on 34avg/89sr in the Ford Trophy and is averaging below 30 with the ball in both competitions so far this summer. I reckon Georgeson is my favourite cricketer that folks don’t know much about. At 26 years old, he is skipper for Otago while also being second for Otago’s runs and wickets in Plunket Shield.
Averaging 25+ with the bat in First-Class and List-A cricket, Georgeson is also below 33avg in both formats. Here are his Plunket Shield game logs this season...
vs Wellington: 14 runs, 0w, 2w
vs Canterbury: 59*, 1w, 44*, 2w
vs ND: 74, 2w, 49*, 2w
vs CD: 80 runs, 1w, 3w
Three best young FC batters in Aotearoa...
Rhys Mariu: 55.81avg/65sr - 24yrs
Bevon Jacobs: 53.23avg/66sr - 23yrs
Curtis Heaphy: 46.71avg/41sr - 22yrs
Best emerging players in HBJ Shield...
Batting
Emma McLeod - 19yrs
HBJ Shield: 342 runs @ 68.4avg/81sr - 1st
List-A: 31.38avg/70sr
Saffron Wilson - 24yrs
HBJ Shield: 216 runs @ 36avg/75sr - 4th
List-A: 18.66avg/69sr
Izzy Sharp - 21yrs
HBJ Shield: 195 runs @ 32.5avg/87sr - 5th
List-A: 22.15av/74sr
Prue Catton - 22yrs
HBJ Shield: 195 runs @ 39avg/78sr - 6th
List-A: 21.44avg/70sr
Bowling
Elizabeth Cohr - 23yrs
HBJ Shield/List-A: 14w @ 10.6avg/5.1rpo - 1st
Xara Jetly - 24yrs
HBJ Shield: 14w @ 16.2avg/4.4rpo - 3rd
List-A: 21.67avg/4.1rpo
Kayley Knight - 22yrs
HBJ Shield: 13w @ 11.6avg/3.6rpo - 4th
List-A: 19.66avg/5.1rpo
Beyond the paywall I offer more information to the Mitch Hay vs Max Chu wicket-keeping battle as well as heaps more Blackcaps bits and bobs.
NZ Warriors announced a women’s partnership with Rabbitohs this week that will provide a much needed dose of reserve grade footy to the NRLW squad. Rabbitohs don’t have an NRLW team but they are one of a few NRL organisations who have teams in the NSW Women’s Premiership and, like Panthers, they were already recruiting wahine from Aotearoa without an NRLW team; Kiana Rae (Rangataua) and Kesha Church (Poroporo) both played for Rabbitohs this year coming out of Bay of Plenty rugby union.
Players working through the Rabbitohs women’s system can flow into the Warriors squad but the main benefit of this deal is reserve grade footy for the Warriors wahine. In their return to NRLW this year, Warriors players who weren’t involved in NRLW games didn’t have any other footy available to them and even though players impressed in stepping up to NRLW from lower levels, this was a clear disadvantage for the wahine.
Tyra Wetere, Payton Takimoana, Ashlee Matapo and Ivana Lauitiiti played major roles for Warriors wahine in 2025 having not played NRLW/Black Ferns before and not having any reserve grade experience.
Warriors have also had a women’s camp in Nelson and a mixed camp in Logan. This shows how Warriors are building out the women’s development pipeline and the Tasman region is an emerging rugby league zone to watch out for.
A wahine partnership with Rabbitohs and the hearty connection with Logan in south east Queensland both involved Warriors being busy in Australia. This is aligned with Warriors gathering young Aussie talent with Darwin’s Brandon Norris part of their train/trial contract group and I stretched out the halves depth chart to ensure that all young Aussie halves were included: Luke Metcalf, Tanah Boyd, Luke Hanson, Jett Cleary, Jye Linnane, Jack Thompson.
New Zealand Warriors NRL-ish Depth Chart For The 2025/26 Summer
A Summer Of Transition For New Zealand Warriors In NSW Cup Ahead Of The 2026 Season
Hanson and Cleary both joined Warriors from Panthers, Linnane and Thompson left Knights to move to Warriors.
The Nelson/Tasman pocket continues rugby league’s growth in the South Island. The Kiwi-NRL train/trial list shared in the Monday newsletter included Torino Jackson who is from Dunedin and is on the rise with Titans as a middle forward, as well as Christchurch’s Jackson Stewart who won the NSW U17 competition with Warriors last year and then won the U19 competition with Roosters this year before settling as a regular in their U21 team.
Then there is Bishop Neal who most folks should know all about. I don’t know about the Aussies in the train/trial list but Neal’s talent is evident in how he’s the only Kiwi-NRL player and probably one of the few players who played U17s to start this year and finishes the year with an NRL tier contract.
Musical jam…
Nick’s Notebook
It’s almost the end of the year which means there’s just a couple weeks until football’s January Transfer Window opens in Europe (and a few others spots). Every transfer window is a big deal for kiwi footballers, there are too many to be contained, though for whatever reason January has been especially fruitful over the last few years. Here are some footballers to have on transfer watch over the next month...
Andre De Jong – This one might happen on January 1, the deal is basically done and dusted to take ADJ from Stellenbosch to Orlando Pirates. That’ll mean moving to the club that’s beaten his in the last two MTN8 Cup finals. From the club that finished third last season to the club that finished second. From a club in the CAF Confederation Cup competition to one in the CAF Champions League. And most importantly, since Stellies are stinking it up this year, from a club currently in the relegation zone to one competing for the title. His contract with Stellies ends after the season but Pirates seem to want him immediately, no doubt influenced by the fact that nine of their dudes have been called up for AFCON squads next month with the majority of them being forwards.
Jacqui Hand – One of NZ’s most effective attackers but it’s been tough for her at club level since her cup-winning exploits in Finland. She’s been relegated with her last three clubs in a row, most recently with Kolbotn in Norway - playing alongside Liv Chance and Liz Anton. The three kiwis were among their best players, giving Kolbotn at least a chance of defying the odds, but relegation means they’ll all need to move to stay in competitive situations. Anton’s already resurfaced at Canberra United. Liv Chance will hopefully land somewhere good, though she’s less pivotal to the Ferns having only recently made her return after two years out. But Hand is a crucial figure, a goal-scorer and creator for a national team that desperately struggles with those things. It’d be nice to see her at a winning club, ya know?
Tyler Bindon – Not sure what’ll happen here because Bindon moved to Sheffield United on a loan instigated by his old Reading FC boss Ruben Selles... but after that dude got sacked he faded into the wilderness. It was all but expected that he’d have that loan cut short in January... until a few injuries put him back into the line-up recently where he won over a lot of doubters with two strong performances and now who knows? Could be he sticks around with the Blades now that Chris Wilder has warmed to him. Could be that he wants to leave anyway to try and find a starting spot elsewhere. There’s even a rumour that Sheff Utd will cut the loan short so as to sign him permanently. Roll the dice, it could go in any direction... much will depend on how invested parent club Nottingham Forest are in his future because they sure seemed to bail on Marko Stamenic pretty swiftly.
Bill Tuiloma – He’s a free agent now after two years of scandalously low usage at Charlotte FC. That trade was a mess from day one, they seemed to think they were signing a different player and ignored what made him effective at Portland. But despite his marginalisation, Tuiloma has somehow wriggled back into the All Whites picture as a back-up right fullback and his chances of cracking that World Cup squad are going to depend massively on the decision he makes next. Does he want to stay in America? Is he interested in playing it safe in the A-League? To be honest, an ALM gig would probably get the job done since that’s where most of his main rivals for NZ selection are at in this position. It’d mean a pay cut… but that’s probably happening anyway.
Henry Gray – One of our very best up-and-coming goalkeepers, albeit mostly down to his work in age-grade footy. Gray is on the books with Ipswich Town, playing for their U21s and training with the first team. He did the same in each of the last two years before going out on loan around December/January for senior football down the divisions. First in sixth tier, then in fifth tier. Will they send him out again? If they do, will it be another progression? He actually went back to Braintree Town (current home of Tommy Smith – also where Gray was Young Player of the Year on loan last season despite only being there for half the campaign) in October but only played one game before being recalled after Ipswich suffered a goalkeeping injury to their main man Alex Palmer. That briefly had Gray as the number three option at Ipswich Town… however Palmer’s back available again as of last week (Christian Walton has so far held onto the number one status) which could clear the path for Gray to seek his own opportunities again.
Not On Transfer Watch But Curious Times Nonetheless
Milly Clegg – Returning to Racing Louisville after a difficult year on loan in Canada playing for a bad team but at least getting an extended run of professional games - something she’d never done on that scale before. Huge jump up from there to getting NWSL minutes so we’ll see what happens.
Joe Bell – Dunno why people are always wondering when Joe Bell is going to leave Viking (they do it in Norway too, for what it’s worth). We’ve already walked that path once before and it didn’t work out for him. So he’s definitely not leaving after just winning a league title and with Champions League qualifiers next year and a guaranteed Europa League spot even if they fail. He’s not getting that anywhere else. This is where he’s supposed to be.
Owen Parker-Price & Gabi Rennie – A couple of kiwis in Sweden who each just got promoted up to the top flights. OPP with Örgryte in the men’s comp, Rennie with Eskiltstuna in the women’s. Both should continue getting good minutes after promotion, expanding our collection of kiwis in top flight situations which is especially valuable with Rennie, who suddenly jumps into the top five on the Football Ferns club hierarchy. Only Katie Bowen, Kate Taylor, and potentially Milly Clegg are undeniably at higher levels than that.
Sarpreet Singh – Things have gotten frisky for Singh since Darije Kalezic was sacked by TSC. Since then, he’s dropped back to the bench with his limited minutes. He had a nice 20-min cameo against perennial Serbian champs Red Star last week in a 0-0 draw though, that was a good sign. At the moment it’s all about waiting to see how this situation tracks.
Finn Surman – Had such a brilliant first full season with Portland that they’re already worried about losing him to a bigger league and are planning to offer him improved terms within a new contract to help keep him around a little longer. With coach Phil Neville’s connections, and Surman’s size and ability, there is English Premier League potential here. But not just yet.
Malia Steinmetz – Aside from a couple of niggles, Grace Wisnewski has had a tremendous time playing in that FC Nordsjælland midfield and it should get even more fun after the winter break when Malia Steinmetz makes her awaited return after her ACL injury.
Most Games Of International Cricket For NZ Each Year (Test + ODI + T20I)
2025 – Daryl Mitchell (42)
2024 – Glenn Philips (31)
2023 – Daryl Mitchell (51)
2022 – Daryl Mitchell (32)
2021 – Tim Southee (21)
2020 – Tim Southee & Ross Taylor (17)
2019 – Ross Taylor (40)
2018 – Kane Williamson (30)
2017 – Mitchell Santner (32)
2016 – Kane Williamson (38)
2015 – Martin Guptill (43)
2014 - Ross Taylor (31)
2013 – Brendon McCullum (32)
2012 – Kane Williamson (37)
2011 – Brendon McCullum & Ross Taylor (24)
If Jacob Duffy takes eight wickets in this third Test vs West Indies then he’ll break a record held by Richard Hadlee for the most international wickets in a calendar year by a New Zealander. Anytime you get the old heads in these lists, it amplifies their legendary status because Hadlee did that without the aid of T20s. Hadlee took 79 wickets in 1985 (15 in ODIs, 64 in Tests). Second on that list is Daniel Vettori circa 2008 with 76 wickets (54 in Tests, 17 in ODIs, 5 in T20Is). And after that we’ve got a tie between 2015 Trent Boult and 2025 Jacob Duffy.
Jacob Duffy in 2025
Tests – 16 wickets at 17.43 average
ODIs – 21 wickets at 21.47 average
T20Is – 35 wickets at 15.08 average
Most International Wickets in 2025 (All Formats Combined)
Jacob Duffy (NZ) – 72 wickets at 17.47 average
Matt Henry (NZ) – 65 wickets at 16.87 average
Blessing Muzarabani (ZIM) – 65 wickets at 27.58 average
Ali Dawood (BAH) – 63 wickets at 11.28 average
Kuldeep Yadav (IND) – 60 wickets at 20.48 average
The only other series going on at the moment, other than the last T20I to be played between India and South Africa, is the Ashes stuff, and as of the morning of December 18 (with the rest of that Test and a Boxing Day Test to follow before the year ends), the top yearly wicket taker in that series is Mitchell Starc at 50 wickets. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s pretty unlikely he’ll take the minimum 23 scalps needed to surpass Duffy. And that’s assuming the Duffman does nothing in his own last outing which is almost as unlikely.
If you want to be a gatekeeper about non-Test Match Championship nations then Jayden Seales with 54 wickets (and counting) for the Windies and Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed with 53 wickets climb into the top five. The bro Dawood from Bahrain did his mahi against Bhutan, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malawi, Malaysia, Rwanda, Singapore, and Tanzania. There’s a whole world of cricket that we never hear about. Muzarabani did play a bunch of Tests this year (10 of them!) but only took 4 wickets at 43.50 average in the games against New Zealand. He took five-fors against Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Ireland all this year though. That’s some legit work.
Musical Jam...
