Northern Districts - ND - coach BJ Watling has named an unchanged 12 man squad for today’s Ford Trophy third round match against the Otago Volts at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

Bay of Plenty all-rounder Pete Drysdale has kept his place in the squad with seamer Zak Gibson out with injury, whilst Scott Johnston and Freddy Walker have also been ruled out.

ND have made a strong start to the Ford Trophy competition and are the only unbeaten side remaining after wins against the Central Stags last Saturday and a bonus point victory against the Wellington Firebirds on Wednesday.

Captain Jeet Raval has enjoyed his move to the middle order with scores of 96 and 20*, whilst seam bowling all-rounder Brett Hampton has arguably been ND’s Player of the Season so far, blasting 116 runs without a dismissal in the two games, along with two wickets.

Last season’s ND Ford Trophy Player of the Year Kristian Clarke continues to impress in the format and leads the wickets charts with 5.

Today’s match will see ND square off against the Volts for the third time this season in an unusual fixture scheduling, so the sides have seen plenty of each other so far.

ND have got the better of Otago in both matches, but they won’t be taking their opposition lightly on Sunday. Dale Phillips looks a clear dangerman after making his maiden List A century in the opening round, whilst 2022/23 Domestic Player of the Season Dean Foxcroft is always an important wicket.

Round 3 of the Ford Trophy starts today, Sunday, December 3 at 10.30am at Seddon Park in Hamilton. Entry to the match is free to the public. 

Livestream is available at https://www.youtube.com/@nzctv/streams 

Follow live scoring via https://scoring.nzc.nz/ 

Northern Districts v Otago Volts, Sunday December 3, 2023, Seddon Park, Hamilton

Coach:                              BJ Watling 
Assistant Coach:               Bob Carter (NZC HPU Coach)

Unavailable due to injury: 
Scott Johnston 
Zak Gibson 
Freddy Walker