Flynn to captain Northern Knights

Daniel Flynn, the New Zealand left-hand batsman, has been appointed captain of the Northern Districts in all three formats for the 2013-14 domestic season.

"Captaincy is a fresh challenge for me and it's come along at a good time in my career," Flynn told Fairfax NZ News. "At 28 I've been around for a while and I'm really looking forward to working with our coach James Pamment and helping guide a team I'm extremely passionate about."

Flynn, who has played 49 international matches for New Zealand, made his debut for the Northern Districts in the 2004-05 domestic season and has scored 13 first-class centuries, the most by any Northern Districts batsman.

James Pamment, the Northern Districts coach, backed the move to have a single captain. "Having the same captain across all forms of the game was considered a priority with a younger group of players because the constant changing of formats does make it more challenging for different leaders to put their stamp on the group," he said. "Daniel has a sharp cricket brain and is held in the utmost respect by all our players. He's impressed for many years as a quality leader of men, but because we've been blessed with so many leadership resources in the Knights, those qualities have been under-utilised until now.

Flynn was one of 11 players to be given a contract, with a further three names to be added on August 9. Graeme Aldridge, Brad Wilson and Anton Devcich fall into the established player category, while Jono Boult will be given a contract for the first time in two seasons.

Youngsters Ish Sodhi, Daryl Mitchell and Anurag Verma retained their contracts while wicketkeeper Cameron Fletcher, Jono Hickey and fast bowler Scott Kuggeleijn, who previously played for Wellington, will join Northern Districts' contract list for the first time.