Fitness, dedication make ND champs, says stats guru

In terms of first-class cricket Bill Andersson is something of a veteran.
He's never played cricket at the top level - he's quick to tell you - but he's been to a few games in his time.
Northern Districts' scorer and official statistician had just enough time, after completing the scoring at the Australia-New Zealand test match at Seddon Park this week, to get a ride down to Napier to help the ND team celebrate their remarkable season.
ND won the four-day Plunket Shield and the one-day competition - the first time they have  won the double since 1979 - which was well before Andersson started his 20-year "stretch" as a scorer for ND.
He believes the difference between the current ND side and others before them  has been slight but noticeable.
"The difference between this team and some of the previous teams I've scored for, has been their fitness level, their commitment on the field and the effort they've put into trainings," Andersson said.
"Their fielding has been far and away the best of any team I've ever been involved with and that's probably what won us the one-day competition more than anything."
ND effected four more run-outs than the next best team in the one-day competition and Andersson said it was making the most of advantages like that, that saw  them crowned one-day champions.
 "The difference was that they were that much more committed to training and so became a lot fitter than any other team, and in the close matches that made a difference," he said.
Undoubtedly the coaching staff had also made their mark. Former Northern Districts bowler Grant Bradburn took over halfway through last season after former ND coach Andy Moles was elevated  to coach the Black Caps.
"Grant did a lot of groundwork pre-season and made a number of changes after taking over as coach last year - and his goal is to build a cricketing dynasty something in the mould of the Crusaders in the Super-14 competition," Andersson said.
"Another thing he's done is to instil an immense pride in playing for ND. Grant has maroon blood running through his veins and had immense pride about representing ND when he did." 
The strength of the entire squad has meant that injuries and players elevated into the Black Caps have been covered with ease, with a core group of younger players coming through to exist on the fringe of the first-class level.
"What they've done is to increase the strength of the squad so we've got 18 or 19 players who can quite easily play first-class cricket and a lot of that is down to the development programmes that (ND's) Pat Malcon runs," Andersson  said.
The influence of fitness trainer Jason Wheadon and the other coaches, Craig Ross and Graeme Stewart, has also been important. The squad hit the ground running  at their Elliots Bay pre-season training camp and after a setback, losing in the semifinal of the Twenty20 competition, stamped their mark on the season.