ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2017

truth, New Zealand’s rise up the rankings owed as much to the failures of other teams as to their own performances on the field. For now at least they stand proudly in fourth place. However, without the emergence of (in particular) some new bowling talent, maintaining this exalted position may prove very difficult. In the Plunket Shield, three wins in four matches either side of the mid-season break put Canterbury into a commanding position, but defeats in their last two matches almost allowed Northern Districts to catch them. Northern Districts won both the matches between the two, though neither particularly comfortably, and in the end the two sides were separated by just two bonus points as Canterbury took the Shield for the fourth time in seven seasons. During the season, Michael Papps, originally of Canterbury but for many seasons a Wellington stalwart, became the first player ever to reach a total of 10,000 runs in Plunket Shield cricket (and equivalent domestic competitions), while for the first time a round of Shield matches was played as day/night matches – incidentally enabling the Westpac Stadium in Wellington to host its first first-class match, having previously been the venue of as many as 29 one-day internationals. Natural forces made their presence felt as the 2016/17 season progressed. Not content with curtailing two potentially exciting Test finishes, rain also caused the abandonment in November – after the toss, so it counts as a match started – of the season's only scheduled first-class match outside the Tests and the Plunket Shield: a warm-up game for the Pakistanis against New Zealand A. Later the same week the Shield match between Wellington and Central Districts was abandoned altogether following the severe earthquake at Kaikoura. Faced with a unique situation, New Zealand Cricket decided that, in addition to the normal 2 points for an abandonment, each side would receive a further 3 points to bring them up to the average number of points (5) won by other teams playing in the same round of matches. The leading runscorer of the season was Auckland and new New Zealand opener Jeet Raval, with 784 runs at 41.26, made without the aid of a century. Another Test player led the season’s wicket-takers: Neil Wagner with 45 wickets at 22.37, which included 14 wickets in his two matches for Otago to go with 31 wickets in the season’s seven home Test matches. In the Plunket Shield alone, the leading scorer was Otago’s Bradley Wilson, with 730 runs at 45.62, and the leading wicket-taker was Ajaz Patel from Central Districts, whose slow left-armers brought him 44 wickets at a somewhat expensive 30.81. (KSW) Plunket Shield 2016/17: Final table P W L D A BatBP BowBP Adj Pts NetRpW 12 0 0 1 Canterbury 10 4 4 2 0 22 35 0 105 4.956 2 Northern Districts 10 4 2 4 0 18 37 0 103 -2.961 3 Auckland 10 3 3 4 0 26 36 0 98 1.998 4 Wellington 10 2 2 5 1 22 35 3 86 4.177 5 Central Districts 10 2 1 6 1 20 30 3 79 -1.342 6 Otago 10 1 4 5 0 16 32 0 60 -7.586 Adjustments: Central Districts: 3 points awarded by Cricket New Zealand as a result of the abandonment of the match against Wellington on 15 November 2016 Wellington: 3 points awarded by Cricket New Zealand as a result of the abandonment of the match against Central Districts on 15 November 2016 Abandoned Match: Wellington v Central Districts, Basin Reserve, Wellington, 15, 16, 17, 18 November. Earthquake. 238 New Zealand in 2016/17