2023/24 HBJ Shield: Five Best Youngsters
Otago grabbed the HBJ Shield championship by defeating Wellington and the best youngster in wahine cricket Emma Black added a few more wickets to her season's tally. Black took 3 wickets in the final and she finishes with 24w which makes her the only HBJ Shield bowler to snare more than 18w this summer.
After the Super Smash campaign, Black returned to HBJ Shield with 11w in her last five games. Black took 3+ wickets in four of those games and wasn't just bagging wickets as Black is the only bowler with 10+ wickets who conceded less than 3.5rpo this season. Having made her HBJ Shield debut in 2017/18, this is the first season Black has taken more than 15w as well as her first season below 4rpo.
Emma Black - 22yrs - Otago
HBJ Shield: 24w @ 11.5avg/3.3rpo
The next best seamer is Northern Districts' Kayley Knight who snared 18w, with 7 wickets coming in a hectic spell against CD a few weeks ago. Knight consistently took wickets in HBJ Shield throughout the campaign and she appears to bowl with more pace than most seamers. After her fourth season of HBJ Shield, Knight has blown away her previous best tallies of 5w and she averaged over 27 in each of the three seasons prior.
Kayley Knight - 20yrs - ND
HBJ Shield: 18w @ 15.4avg/5.1rpo
Wellington's run to the finals featured typically excellent mahi from Xara Jetly and the rise of Kate Chandler. Jetly was a key figure in Wellington's Super Smash championship and her 17w in HBJ Shield puts her a wicket behind Leigh Kasperek in the spin wicket rankings, as well as Wellington's second best bowler this season. This is Jetly's best HBJ Shield campaign as she took 15+ wickets and conceded les than 4rpo for the first time since her debut in 2018/19.
Xara Jetly - 22yrs - Wellington
HBJ Shield: 17w @ 19.4avg/3.7rpo
There is no shortage of exceptional young talent in Aotearoa cricket and at 17-years-old, Chandler may be the best of them. Chandler had three consecutive scores over 20 heading into the final with a knock of 59 runs in the last game of the regular season, her second 50+ score of the summer.
Chandler also had a 50+ score last summer and has two seasons of scoring 100+ runs in HBJ Shield before turning 18-years-old. In a strong Wellington batting unit, Chandler finished fourth for runs and while Georgia Plimmer had a century, Chandler joined Jess McFadyen and Kasperek as the only Wellington batters to grab two 50+ scores this season. Chandler also took a few wickets with her leggies and is the latest youngin to learn about from the best development system in Aotearoa women's cricket.
Kate Chandler - 17yrs - Wellington
HBJ Shield: 244 runs @ 27.1avg/73sr | 5w @ 20avg/4.2rpo
The leading run-scorer for youngsters is Georgia Atkinson and she finished HBJ Shield a few runs ahead of Natalie Dodd as the leading run-scorer for Central Districts. Atkinson only had one 50+ score while Dodd had two, but Atkinson chimed in with solid scores throughout the campaign as she scored 200+ runs for the first season since her debut in 2017/18. Atkinson also offers leg-spin bowling and while she was only required for 8 overs, she was efficient with 3w, including a wicket in each of her last two bowling appearances.
Georgia Atkinson - 23yrs - CD
HBJ Shield: 274 runs @ 34.2avg/68sr | 3w @ 15avg/3.7rpo
Join the Niche Cache Patreon whanau to support our kiwi sports content straight up, get a karma boost and find extra podcasts. You can also Buy Me A Coffee to show your support.
Every Monday and Friday we fire off an email newsletter with bonus content. Sign up here!
Peace and love.