ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2016

attractive) sides on the Test circuit, combining grit and determination with verve and flair, and all this without compromising the generosity and sportsmanship traditionally associated with New Zealand cricket. And this is to say nothing of his qualities as a batsman. Having first come to prominence as a fearsome hitter in limited-overs cricket, he had a special ability to terrorize bowlers with displays of ruthlessly efficient and rapid scoring; an hour or two of McCullum at his destructive best could, depending on the circumstances, wrest the initiative from a previously dominant adversary or heap humiliation on weary bowlers. He struck more Test sixes than anyone in history, and it was fitting that, in his final match, he should mark the end of his career by capturing the record for the fastest Test hundred. Auckland, having begun their Plunket Shield season with a big win against defending champions Canterbury, must have thought it was not to be their year when Northern Districts dismissed them for 98 in the next match. But they recovered to win that game and went on to claim the Shield for the first time since 2008/09; their winning margin would have been greater but for defeat at the hands of lowly Central Districts in the final game. In retrospect, the decisive moment probably came with Auckland’s 10-run triumph in a low-scoring thriller against Otago in mid-March. In the end, Auckland was the only side to achieve six wins and the loss to Central Districts was the only defeat; Canterbury, like Wellington, could point to five wins but each of these sides also suffered three defeats. New Zealand legspinners have been a rare breed over the years, but one of them was the leading wicket-taker in 2015/16: Todd Astle of Canterbury claimed 47 victims at the excellent average of 24.85. Ajaz Patel, the Mumbai-born Central Districts slow left-armer, was next with 43 but he averaged an expensive-looking 33.69. Remarkably, the two leading run-getters of the season (and only men to exceed a thousand runs) were also born in India: Bharat Popli of Northern Districts with 1149 at 67.48 and Auckland’s Jeet Raval with 1016 at 59.76. (JCB) Plunket Shield 2015/16: Final table P W L D BatBP BowBP Pts NetRpW 12 0 0 1 Auckland 10 6 1 3 23 38 133 6.519 2 Canterbury 10 5 3 2 18 39 117 5.205 3 Wellington 10 5 3 2 23 25 108 -6.427 4 Northern Districts 10 2 4 4 25 38 87 4.617 5 Central Districts 10 2 5 3 27 34 85 -4.821 6 Otago 10 1 5 4 15 34 61 -7.391 218 New Zealand in 2015/16