Cricket: Central Districts matches added to McLean Park summer programme

An afternoon at the cricket at McLean Park, where the Black Caps, the White Ferns and the Central Districts Stags are all on the schedule for the summer. Photo / NZME

Two Dream 11 Super Smash Central Districts Stags and Hinds Twenty20 cricket double-headers will be played at McLean Park in Napier in January.

The matches, against the Canterbury Magicians and Canterbury Kings on the Friday night of January 21, and Auckland Hearts and Auckland Aces on January 29 (a Wednesday), were announced on Wednesday, and are added to six other Central Districts and international matches at McLean Park previously announced.

It starts with the men’s two Central Stags four-day Plunket Shield matches pre-Christmas, against Otago Volts on Monday-Thursday, November 11-14, and defending champions Wellington Firebirds on Thursday-Sunday, November 28-December 1.

An afternoon at the cricket at McLean Park, where the Black Caps, the White Ferns and the Central Districts Stags are all on the schedule for the summer. Photo / NZME

There is also a Friday and Sunday double of Ford Trophy 50 overs-a-side matches against defending champions Canterbury on February 14 and Otago Volts on February 18.

Central Districts won both the Plunket Shield and the Ford Trophy in the 2022-2023 season.

There will be free entry to the Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy matches.

In July it was announced that the national women’s side, the White Ferns, will play Sri Lanka at McLean Park on Tuesday, March 4, and men’s side, the Black Caps, will play Pakistan on Saturday, March 29.

Also on the list for Napier this summer are up to four three-day Hawke’s Bay defences of the minor associations’ trophy, the Hawke Cup, at Nelson Park, with the first expected to be held in the last week of January.

Hawke’s Bay regained the cup with a first-innings win over Canterbury Country in Rangiora last November. The side successfully defended it with first-innings wins against Manawatū, Counties Manukau and Canterbury Country and an outright win over South Canterbury in January-February this year.