New Zealand’s top level one-day domestic cricket competition Ford Trophy 2018/19 is scheduled to be held from 24th October to 1st December 2018 which is a six-team competition. These six teams are Auckland Aces, Canterbury, Central Stags, Northern Districts, Otago Volts and Wellington Firebirds. Total 32 matches to be played including the final in 11 venues of Invercargill, Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Lincoln and Dunedin. These venues include many of New Zealand’s favorite cricket venues like Eden Park Outer Oval and Pukekura Park. The 11 venues are:

Saxton Oval, Nelson
Basin Reserve, Wellington
Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland
Seddon Park, Hamilton
Pukekura Park, New Plymouth
Hagley Oval, Christchurch
University of Otago Oval, Dunedin
BSO, Lincoln University
Lincoln No. 3, Lincoln University
Queen’s Park, Invercargill
Cobham Oval, Whangarei

New Zealand’s national men’s one-day cricket competition starts on Wednesday this week. The six-team competition to be played in eight rounds, then a series of Finals playoffs before the Grand Final. Two extra rounds have been added to this season. Recent Blackcaps are probable to be in action for the teams and also few new players will be future Blackcaps for sure.

Auckland Aces, the defending champions who defeated the Central Stags in last summer’s Grand Final will be trying to hit Northern Districts out of the park at Eden Park Outer Oval where many sixes are expected to be hit as usual. The Central Stags will play their opening match against Otago Volts at Nelson’s beautiful Saxton Oval. Auckland Aces and Central Stags are the two teams who have dominated The Ford Trophy over the past decade and they both will play their first match at their home ground. The Auckland Aces won the title in 2010/11 and 2012/13 including the last season and, with 11 championship wins since the start of the format in 1970s, they are closing the gap on Canterbury who hold the New Zealand record with 14.
Canterbury’s most recent win was two seasons ago, when they were joyful to defeat the Wellington Firebirds in the Grand Final at Rangiora. It broke a long title shortage period for Canterbury.

Canterbury got into the Grand Final the previous summer but lost the match to the Central Stags at Pukekura Park that year. The Central Stags became back-to-back champions and have won three trophies in the last 10 years. Losing at home in Taranaki last summer to the Auckland Aces was a painful blow for the Central Stags after having lost the Burger King Super Smash Grand Final to the Knights last season. If the team can bash their way into another Grand Final this summer, they will be very eager to put those bad memories behind them and show they can step up under pressure.

Central Stags have a new-look side and a debut captain in Doug Bracewell, after 2015/16 title-winning captain Will Young decided to step down to concentrate on his batting. Like regular Stags stars Tom Bruce, George Worker, Blair Tickner, Ajaz Patel and even coach Heinrich Malan, Young is currently away representing New Zealand A in the United Arab Emirates. With a home New Zealand A Series to follow here in New Zealand next month, against India A, it’s likely to impact a few sides with their regular matchwinners away. That means great opportunities for the next wave of players to make a real name for themselves, as we’ve seen already in the first two rounds of Plunket Shield this summer.
The one-day game has really evolved in New Zealand over the past few years, with the introduction of T20 showing its influence in hard hitting and aggressive white-ball bowling. But the 50-over format and power play rules also introduce more strategy and fightbacks over the course of the game. It’s going to be entertaining for sure.

Previous Winners

2017/18 Auckland Aces
2016/17 Canterbury
2015/16 Central Stags
2014/15 Central Stags
2013/14 Wellington Firebirds
2012/13 Auckland Aces
2011/12 Central Stags
2010/11 Auckland Aces
2009/10 Northern Districts

Squad

Auckland Aces Squad
Lockie Ferguson, Graeme Beghin, Martin Guptill, Michael Guptill, Mitchell McClenaghan, Colin Munro, Finn Allen, Robbie O’Donnell, Jeet Raval, Glenn Phillips (Wicketkeeper), Mark Chapman, Will Somerville, Sean Solia, Craig Cachopa, Jamie Brown, Ben Lister, Matt McEwan, Danru Ferns, Ben Horne, (Wicketkeeper), Michael Barry

Canterbury Squad
Chad Bowes, Jack Boyle, Michael Pollard, Todd Astle, Leo Carter, Andrew Ellis, Cam Fletcher (Wicketkeeper), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Johnston, Tom Latham, Ken McClure, Cole McConchie, Henry Nicholls, Ed Nuttall, Henry Shipley, Will Williams

Central Stags Squad
Doug Bracewell, Tom Bruce, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Liam Dudding, Greg Hay, Christian Leopard, Ryan McCone, Adam Milne, Ajaz Patel, Navin Patel, Seth Rance, Mitch Renwick, Jesse Ryder, Ben Smith, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner, Ben Wheeler, George Worker, William Young

Northern Districts Squad
Dean Brownlie (c), Peter Bocock, Trent Boult, Henry Cooper, Anton Devcich, Daniel Flynn, Zak Gibson, Brett Hampton, Nick Kelly, Daryl Mitchell, Brett Randell, Neil Wagner

Otago Volts Squad
Anaru Kitchen, Brad Wilson, Christi Viljoen, Hamish Rutherford, Jacob Duffy, Michael Rae, Warren Barnes, Josh Finnie, Neil Broom, Mark Craig, Nathan Smith, Shawn Hicks, Michael Rippon, Matthew Bacon, Mitch Renwick, Josh Tasman-Jones

Wellington Firebirds Squad
Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Andrew Fletcher, Lauchie Johns, Iain McPeake, Jimmy Neesham, Ollie Newton, Malcolm Nofal, Jeetan Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Logan van Beek, Luke Woodcock, Peter Younghusband