Summer is upon us: Plunket Shield Preview

The reigning champions, the Central Stags kick their campaign off in Auckland, whilst the Firebirds host Canterbury and Northern Districts host Otago. With 15 Blackcaps and Tom Blundell (injury cover) over at the World Cup there will be a few new faces in each side.

Central Districts are only without Will Young for their opening games, with their bowling attack unaffected. Blair Tickner, Ajaz Patel, Brett Randell and Ray Toole all showed their dominance last summer, leading their side to Plunket Shield victory.

Batters like Greg Hay, Tom Bruce and Dane Cleaver will all be instrumental to the Central side in their pursuit of going back to back.

Their first home game is against Wellington Firebirds, starting on the 28th of this month before heading off to Otago Volts and then back home to McLean Park to take on Canterbury Kings before the white ball break.

They will then play against Northern Districts at Bay Oval, with then another three home games to round off the season, the first Palmerston North before the final two held at McLean Park against the Aces and Volts.

My prediction is that the Stags will gain early momentum, facing Canterbury early on while they're depleted of the likes of Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell.

Likewise, there is also the risk Blair Tickner, Ajaz Patel, Josh Clarkson and Dane Cleaver earning call-ups to the Blackcaps, so may need to rely on fringe players such as Bayley Wiggins, Curtis Heaphy and Will Clark.

I predict that they will once again go back to back again.

The Wellington Firebirds start their season off with a match against last summer’s runners-up, Canterbury.

They'll miss top order batters Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell as well as Logan van Beek (The Netherlands) with the ongoing Men's Cricket World Cup. The New Zealand trio will also be unavailable for the majority of the season.

Wellington will need youngsters Muhammad Abbas, Gareth Severin and Tim Robinson to flourish in similar fashion to last year.

Having also lost Finn Allen (Auckland) and Luke Georgeson (Otago) it will be a real shake up for the Wellington side.

Jersey international Nick Greenwood will also be key in getting his side over the line. They boast the fortunes of pacers like Michael Snedden and Nathan Smith whilst Nick Kelly will hopefully be able to bolster their batting lineup.

After their first home game, Wellington play away against CD before hosting ND and then away to Auckland before the break. They will then play against Canterbury (A) and CD before battling with Otago at the Basin Reserve and ND at Seddon to end their season.

I expect Wellington to finish Sixth due to the inexperience in the side.

Canterbury start their season playing Wellington before hosting Otago and Auckland at home and then away to the Stags. They will then play Wellington at home, Otago away, ND at home and Auckland away.

Canterbury were boosted with Kyle Jamieson moving back to Christchurch, though is slowly returning from a back injury. Having Blackcaps like Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Ish Sodhi and possibly Henry Nicholls who is currently injured, it could make them suffer early on.

Will O’Rourke found his feet in the Aus 'A' series for NZ 'A' - positive signs heading into the Plunket Shield. Michael Rae and Michael Rippon joined the Kings from Otago though have lost experienced keeper Cam Fletcher to Auckland.

Mitch Hay will most likely take the gloves early on with Latham out of the team. I would expect Canterbury to lose a couple of early games as they find their rhythm before winning a few games when their internationals are available, but will fall short and come Third.

Auckland start their season hosting CD and Northern Districts before an away game against Canterbury and then back at home to play Wellington. They then start next year off with away games to Otago, Northern Districts, and Stags before hosting Canterbury.

Having lost Will Somerville and Ben Horne to retirement, Auckland require the likes of Adi Ashok (Spin) and Cam Fletcher (Bat/WK) to stand up in those departments this year. Finn Allen returning home from the Firebirds should aid the middle order alongside Robbie O'Donnell.

Both O’Donnell brothers working in tandem Sean Solia and perhaps Martin Guptill with the bat will be a treat for the Aces. They will however be without Mark Chapman for the first couple of fixtures.

With Lockie Ferguson participating in the CWC, Simon Keene and Ben Lister will head the pace bowling attack.

You would expect if Auckland can get some early wins then they could push for the title, but I feel that once again they will struggle in the bowling department. I expect that they will come Fifth this season.

Otago will start their season with two away games to ND and Canterbury before heading to Otago to host CD and ND. They will then return in February to host Auckland and Canterbury, play away to Wellington and finish the season in Napier against CD. Losing both Michael Rae and Michael Rippon are major losses to not only the bowling department but also to the lower order batting as the pair have often got Otago out of tricky situations. The side will now heavily rely on the likes of Ben Lockrose in the spin department with Dean Foxcroft also going to have to roll the arm over a fair bit this season, possibly taking the role of the second spinner. Jacob Duffy will be looking for a strong summer so that he can force his way back into Blackcaps contention. Hamish Rutherford will likely open with Luke Georgeson with the likes of Dale Phillips, Jacob Cumming, Thorn Parkes and Llew Johnson all contributing through the middle order. I expect to see this young but experienced Otago side do well this season, as currently they only have Glenn Phillips in the Blackcaps side. My Prediction is that they will have a great summer and come Second.

The Northern Districts found success in the white ball competitions, but will be looking for a Plunket Shield victory to go along with that.

They start the summer in Hamilton vs Otago before heading to Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin. In the new year, they will then host CD and Auckland before heading to Canterbury and finishing their season at home against the Firebirds.

Coming third for the last two seasons, new head coach BJ Watling will want to steer his side to victory.

They are missing a host of names at the World Cup although: Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, and Trent Boult. There is also the uncertainty around how much Neil Wagner will feature.

The experience of Joe Carter, Henry Cooper, Jeet Raval, Bharat Popli and Tim Seifert will all feature with bat in hand, which has often been a key characteristic of ND.

The bowling side is less experienced with Matthew Fisher, Zak Gibson, and Kristian Clarke only having a couple of seasons under their belts.

With the uncertainty of any of their Blackcaps playing, I expect that the side will struggle against sides like CD, Otago and Canterbury but may pick up wins against Auckland and Wellington. Therefore, I predict they will come Fourth this summer.