Cricket: Auckland shuffle list after three drop down

Jeet Raval. File photo / Paul Estcourt

Six players have retained their Auckland contracts, three have been dropped down from the national list last year and two newcomers round out the first 11 for next summer.

The major association contracts list is done in two parts. Five of the six provinces named 11 players yesterday; Canterbury opted for 10. The group will be completed on August 9.

The idea is to make sure the perceived leading 72 players in the country get a contract somewhere.

In Auckland's case, the six who return are batsmen Jeet Raval, Anaru Kitchen and Andrew de Boorder, lively left armer Michael Bates, allrounder Colin de Grandhomme and offspinner Bhupinder Singh.

The three who have dropped off the national list are captain and wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins, veteran seamer Daryl Tuffey and opener Tim McIntosh.

Attacking allrounder Colin Munro is rewarded for a good limited-overs campaign last season, as is former Northern Districts spinner Bruce Martin, who made a strong impact late in the Plunket Shield.

Those absent after being on the list last season are Dusan Hakaraia, Jimmy Neesham, spinner Roneel Hira, new ball pair Lance and Gareth Shaw and batsman Greg Todd.

Auckland coach Paul Strang acknowledged the difficulties of fitting all players in, especially with having to make room for Hopkins, Tuffey and McIntosh.

They had to be included, and reasonably high up the pecking order, as players are guaranteed a soft landing after being removed from the higher-paying national list.

"We've got a lot of talent in Auckland and with those three guys (Hopkins, McIntosh, Tuffey) coming back into the mix it was impossible to fit everybody in," Strang said.

"The good news is that we'll see a lot of those guys throughout the season and competition for places is going to be extremely strong."

Northern Districts had to make room for former test seamer Brent Arnel but there are three new faces: Daryl Mitchell, James Baker and Brook Hatwell.

Spinner Jono Boult and veteran batsman Michael Parlane miss out while Bradley Scott transferred to Otago.

Having six players on the national list afforded ND room to move.

"This contracting process was one of the toughest to draw the line between players as the depth of talent we have in our region is second to none," ND chief executive David Cooper said.

Around the other provinces ...

Wellington handed first-time deals to batsman Stephen Murdoch and Stewart Rhodes. Returning former test seamer Iain O'Brien is back on their list but six players from last season are dumped.

Central Districts have found room for their promising fast-medium bowlers Adam Milne, Ben Wheeler, Bevan Small and Doug Bracewell and retained an experienced core of former internationals: Jamie How, Mathew Sinclair, Peter Ingram and Michael Mason.

The departures of Michael Papps and Corey Anderson and the elevations of Hamish Bennett, Reece Young and Rob Nicol gave Canterbury room to move. Former CD player George Worker has shifted south and promising Matt Henry, Tom Latham and Ryan McCone get an opportunity.

Otago are a settled outfit. Scott and Michael Bracewell are coming in for Anthony Bullick and Shaun Haig, with Neil Broom elevated to the national list.

Quality line-up

Major association contracted players for 2011-12

Auckland

Michael Bates, Andrew de Boorder, Colin de Grandhomme, Gareth Hopkins, Anaru Kitchen, Bruce Martin, Tim McIntosh, Colin Munro, Jeet Raval, Bhupinder Singh, Daryl Tuffey.

Northern Districts

Graeme Aldridge, Brent Arnel, James Baker, Anton Devcich, Brook Hatwell, James Marshall, Peter McGlashan, Daryl Mitchell, Anurag Verma, Brad Wilson, Joseph Yovich.

Central Districts

Doug Bracewell, Jamie How, Peter Ingram, Michael Mason, Adam Milne, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Tarun Nethula, Mathew Sinclair, Bevan Small, Kruger van Wyk, Ben Wheeler.

Wellington

Joe Austin-Smellie, Harry Boam, Josh Brodie, Grant Elliott, James Franklin, Mark Gillespie, Stephen Murdoch, Iain O'Brien, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Stewart Rhodes.

Canterbury

Todd Astle, Dean Brownlie, Andrew Ellis, Peter Fulton, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Ryan McCone, Richard Sherlock, Shanan Stewart, George Worker.

Otago

Nick Beard, Michael Bracewell, Darren Broom, Ian Butler, Craig Cumming, Derek de Boorder, Warren McSkimming, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott, Neil Wagner, Sam Wells.