Contract balance changes experience factor
Movement of players within New Zealand's domestic cricket has resulted in a re-balancing of player experience, especially when international players are taken out of the picture
Movement of players within New Zealand's domestic cricket has resulted in a re-balancing of player experience, especially when international players are taken out of the picture.
One of the aims of the player contract system was to have the best 66 players in the country looked after by way of security provided by a contract. But, in actual fact, 88 players are catered for, the number being bolstered by 20 players on international contracts and two overseas qualified players.
The breakdown of international players in associations is significant. The list reads: Auckland (five), Canterbury (seven), Central Districts (two), Northern Districts (five), Otago (0) and Wellington (one). Central Districts and Otago also have Craig Spearman and Mohammad Wasim, respectively, as overseas contracted players.
That puts significant pressure on Auckland, Canterbury and Northern Districts to have back-up players in their squads to cater for the absence of their international players and they have 16, 18 and 16 players respectively when the internationals are included with their domestic players.
Combined experience of entire contracted squads:
Players Tests ODIs FC LA
Auckland 16 79 190 740 951
Canterbury 18 221 779 1015 1705
Central Districts 14 43 127 536 700
Northern Districts 16 91 250 672 899
Otago 12 19 29 530 490
Wellington 12 90 270 683 910
Note: figures are as at the domestic contracts announcement date of July 15.
Just what having a high contribution rate of international players can mean to a side is demonstrated in Canterbury's case. Without their internationals, Canterbury's remaining 11 players total 329 first-class games between them, and 322 List A one-day matches.
The seven internationals among them have 686 first-class matches between them and 1383 List A matches. So when the majority of players are required for international matches, Canterbury can lose up to two-thirds of its experience in first-class play, and 80% in one-day matches. Admittedly, part of Canterbury's numbers are affected by Chris Cairns' play for Nottinghamshire.
Auckland by comparison strikes a better balance. Its remaining players have 420 first-class games between them and 513 List A one-dayers. Their five internationals have 320 first-class games and 438 List A one-dayers experience between them.
Wellington, with only one internationally contracted player, gains the advantage of having so few players involved, as it can call on a group of players with 524 first-class matches and 603 List A games. That is the most experience in both categories for all teams.
Not surprisingly, given they have no international players contracted, Otago has the second highest number of first-class matches in their squad with 422, and third-highest with 406 in the List A games.
Combined experience of domestic contracted squads:
----- internationals missing ------
FC LA Players Tests ODIs FC LA
Auckland 420 513 5 71 159 320 438
Canterbury 329 322 7 205 769 686 1383
Central Districts 293 324 2 24 73 122 202
Northern Districts 370 341 5 76 237 302 558
Otago 422 406 0 - - - -
Wellington 524 603 1 75 202 159 307
Of those players it is interesting to note, the international experience that is included.
Combined international experience of domestic squads:
Players Tests ODIs
Auckland 4 8 31
Canterbury 3 16 10
Central Districts 2 0 3
Northern Districts 2 15 13
Otago 3 1 4
Wellington 4 15 68
Note: the above two tables only include matches played by the 11 players with domestic association contracts and not overseas contracted players Craig Spearman (CD) and Mohammad Wasim (Otago).
When the Black Caps are unavailable, the provinces will rely on 20 remaining players who have had international experience.
Non-international contracted players with Test experience:
Tests
Craig Spearman CD 19
Mohammad Wasim O 18
Matthew Hart ND 14
Matthew Bell W 13
Chris Martin C 11
Brooke Walker A 5
Gary Stead C 5
Kerry Walmsley A 3
James Franklin W 2
David Sewell O 1
Hamish Marshall ND 1
Non-international contracted players with ODI experience:
ODIs
Craig Spearman CD 51
Chris Nevin W 32
Mohammad Wasim O 25
James Franklin W 24
Matthew Hart ND 13
Llorne Howell A 12
Brooke Walker A 11
Paul Hitchcock A 8
Matthew Bell W 7
Chris Martin C 7
Andrew Penn W 5
Jeff Wilson O 4
Glen Sulzberger CD 3
Warren Wisneski C 3
The manner in which New Zealand has largely kept its Test side together, barring injuries in recent times, is reflected in the developing core of experience in the side.
The list of most Tests played by the contracted Black Caps now reads: Stephen Fleming 75, Nathan Astle 57, Chris Cairns 55, Daniel Vettori 46, Craig McMillan 44, Matt Horne 35, Mark Richardson 24, Chris Harris 23, Mathew Sinclair 20, Paul Wiseman 16, Daryl Tuffey 14, Lou Vincent 11, Shane Bond 10, Robbie Hart 7, Scott Styris 5, Jacob Oram 4, Ian Butler 4, Andre Adams 1.
Fleming, if he was to play every Test between the start of the India tour in September and the Bangladesh tour in October next year, would overtake Sir Richard Hadlee's record of 86 Test appearances for New Zealand.
He is also climbing the list of most appearances as a captain. He will share sixth with Steve Waugh when the Australian captain leads his side out at Cairns on Friday on 51 appearances, but by the time he plays six more Tests, Fleming will be third on the all-time list. Those ahead of him are: Allan Border 93, Clive Lloyd 74, Arjuna Ranatunga 56, Mike Atherton 54, Hansie Cronje 53.
The list of most ODIs played by the contracted Black Caps reads: Chris Harris 230, Stephen Fleming 202, Nathan Astle 174, Chris Cairns 167, Craig McMillan 130, Daniel Vettori 111, Scott Styris 64, Lou Vincent 56, Daryl Tuffey 51, Matt Horne 50, Jacob Oram 40, Mathew Sinclair 33, Andre Adams 28, Shane Bond 27, Brendon McCullum 26, Kyle Mills 21, Paul Wiseman 15, Ian Butler 9, Mark Richardson 4, Robbie Hart 2.
The first-class, List A and combined match experience of all the international contractees as well as the top 20 domestic/overseas players in each category are listed below.
Most first-class matches played:
International contractees
Chris Cairns 198
Stephen Fleming 159
Mark Richardson 128
Nathan Astle 124
Paul Wiseman 112
Matt Horne 103
Chris Harris 101
Craig McMillan 98
Robbie Hart 96
Mathew Sinclair 86
Daniel Vettori 80
Scott Styris 54
Daryl Tuffey 53
Lou Vincent 40
Jacob Oram 36
Shane Bond 36
Kyle Mills 26
Andre Adams 23
Ian Butler 19
Brendon McCullum 17
Domestic/overseas contractees
Matthew Hart ND 122
Craig Spearman CD 121
Mohammad Wasim O 108
Matthew Bell W 101
Llorne Howell A 79
Michael Parlane W 78
Gary Stead C 78
Craig Cumming O 67
Glen Sulzberger CD 66
Chris Gaffaney O 66
Brooke Walker A 66
Robbie Lawson O 64
Warren Wisneski C 64
Richard Jones W 64
Andrew Penn W 63
Aaron Barnes A 61
Chris Nevin W 57
James Marshall ND 55
David Sewell O 55
Chris Martin C 52
Most List A matches played:
International contractees
Chris Harris 359
Chris Cairns 342
Stephen Fleming 307
Nathan Astle 292
Craig McMillan 217
Daniel Vettori 160
Scott Styris 136
Robbie Hart 125
Matt Horne 119
Daryl Tuffey 114
Mathew Sinclair 109
Lou Vincent 105
Jacob Oram 93
Mark Richardson 91
Paul Wiseman 85
Andre Adams 65
Kyle Mills 58
Shane Bond 53
Brendon McCullum 35
Ian Butler 23
Domestic/overseas contractees
Craig Spearman CD 174
Chris Nevin W 120
Llorne Howell A 118
Matthew Hart ND 109
Michael Parlane W 106
Aaron Barnes A 103
Matthew Bell W 102
Gary Stead C 90
Mohammad Wasim O 84
Robbie Lawson O 83
Glen Sulzberger CD 74
Chris Gaffaney O 73
Warren Wisneski C 72
Brooke Walker A 70
Richard Jones W 65
Andrew Penn W 60
Hamish Marshall ND 58
Campbell Furlong CD 56
Gareth Hopkins O 56
Matthew Walker W 55
Most combined first-class and List A matches played:
International contractees
Chris Cairns 540
Stephen Fleming 466
Chris Harris 460
Nathan Astle 416
Craig McMillan 315
Daniel Vettori 240
Matt Horne 222
Robbie Hart 221
Mark Richardson 219
Paul Wiseman 197
Mathew Sinclair 195
Scott Styris 190
Daryl Tuffey 167
Lou Vincent 145
Jacob Oram 129
Shane Bond 89
Andre Adams 88
Kyle Mills 84
Brendon McCullum 52
Ian Butler 42
Domestic/overseas contractees
Craig Spearman CD 295
Matthew Hart ND 231
Matthew Bell W 203
Llorne Howell A 197
Mohammad Wasim O 192
Michael Parlane W 184
Chris Nevin W 177
Gary Stead C 168
Aaron Barnes A 164
Robbie Lawson O 147
Glen Sulzberger CD 140
Chris Gaffaney O 139
Brooke Walker A 136
Warren Wisneski C 136
Richard Jones W 129
Andrew Penn W 123
Craig Cumming O 121
Gareth Hopkins O 107
James Marshall ND 103
Hamish Marshall ND 100
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