In the latest round of Ford Trophy there were wins for Canterbury, Wellington and Otago as Wellington and Otago grabbed their second wins of the season. Canterbury were too good for Auckland, while Wellington defeated Northern Districts who are still top of the table and Otago had a win against Central Districts. Here's how the ladder looks...

ND: 4-2 | 20 points
Canterbury: 3-3 | 17 points
Auckland: 4-3 | 16 points
CD: 2-3 | 13 points
Wellington: 2-3 | 13 points
Otago: 2-3 | 13 points

Nick Kelly 6x6 in his 106 runs @ 109sr vs ND #FordTrophy pic.twitter.com/fnSfazUaLb
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) February 6, 2024

Two centuries were scored in Wellington's win over ND with Wellington skipper Nick Kelly whacking 106 runs @ 109sr and Henry Cooper hitting 121 runs @ 91 for ND. Kelly's hundred is in tune with the antics of Brett Hampton and Logan van Beek last round, although Kelly can't jam the 100+ strike-rate club just yet as he has 210 runs @ 35avg/92sr in Ford Trophy.

Finn Allen and Hampton still have 300+ runs with strike-rates over 120 and van Beek is the only other lad with 100+ runs and 100+ strike-rate. Allen is the only batter with two scores over 100, while Joe Carter and Dale Phillips are the other blokes who have scored a Ford Trophy century this season.

Kristian Clarke and Andrew Hazeldine took 5-wicket-bagies with both lads tapping into themes of kiwi cricket. Clarke is a young seamer for ND who is first for wickets in Ford Trophy after his 5w @ 6.7rpo in the loss to Wellington. Clarke now averages 18.7 in List-A bowling and the last round of Ford Trophy featured wickets for the usual crew of Zak Foulkes, Ray Toole and Nathan Smith. Will O'Rourke was also tidy (1w @ 3.7rpo) and Auckland unleashed Angus Olliver who finished as their best bowler (3w @ 4.2rpo).

Kristian Clarke 5 wickets vs Wellington - 1st for wickets in #FordTrophy with 16w @ 16avg/4.9rpo. pic.twitter.com/AlpIuDJgbB
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) February 6, 2024

Zak Foulkes vs Sean Solia #FordTrophy pic.twitter.com/Whr3trVJFI
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) February 6, 2024

Here's how the best young/emerging seamers stack up in Ford Trophy...

Kristian Clarke: 16w @ 16avg/4.9rpo
Ray Toole: 14w @ 17avg/4.8rpo
Will O'Rourke: 13w @ 17avg/4.4rpo
Zak Foulkes: 9w @ 27avg/5.2rpo
Matt Fisher: 9w @ 30avg/5.1rpo
Nathan Smith: 7w @ 30avg/6.2pro
Ben Sears: 5w @ 43avg/5rpo

Hazeldine's not in this bracket as he is a bit older, but like many seamers in Aotearoa, Hazeldine has a funky skillset as a hostile lefty. Hazeldine has battled for game time after leaving Canterbury to join Otago and he appears to be the fastest lefty in Aotearoa, while also capable of nibbling the ball around. While he averages 30+ in all three formats, his 32.2avg in LA is his best pocket and his 5w @ 3.6rpo against CD featured two top order wickets before he ripped through CD's tail.

Andrew Hazeldine 5 wickets vs CD #FordTrophy pic.twitter.com/9YQewxgJPC
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) February 6, 2024

The best spinners in Ford Trophy are two young lefties...

Ben Lockrose: 8w @ 27avg/5rpo
Tim Pringle: 8w @ 30avg/4.3rpo

Both are capable all-rounders as well who average 25+ with the bat in Ford Trophy and Pringle's got a strike-rate of 129. Their mahi favours T20 cricket, but Pringle is slowly working his 50avg/5.1rpo in LA down and Lockrose's best bowling format is LA where he averages 34.9. There is no shortage of crafty spinners with lads like Michael Rippon, Jayden Lennox and Peter Younghusband strong performers across all three formats but Lockrose and Pringle are the most notable young spinners in Ford Trophy right now.

Only two batters have three 50+ scores in Ford Trophy. One is Hampton and the other is Otago's Thorn Parkes who is starting his LA career with an average of 55. Parkes scored 53* @ 59sr against CD and his consistent run-scoring is balanced out by a strike-rate of 71 in his first five innings. Parkes has the lowest strike-rate of the nine batters who have scored 200+ runs but that's countered by the only other lad with 200+ runs in five innings being Allen.

Josh Clarkson returned from injury and he has snuck under the radar as one of the most efficient bowlers in Ford Trophy. The funky thing here is that Clarkson is yet to sizzle with the bat and that involves an unusually low strike-rate...

Bat: 108 runs @ 21avg/69sr
Ball: 7w @ 23avg/5rpo

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