New Zealand domestic news – Jimmy Neesham takes up domestic contract with Auckland


Jimmy Neesham has been contracted to Auckland for the 2026-27 domestic season. The 35-year-old allrounder takes up a New Zealand Cricket (NZC) contract – domestic or international – for the first time since 2021-22. Neesham, who is currently with Glamorgan for the T20 Blast in the UK, has made himself available for the one-day Ford Trophy and 20-over Super Smash competitions during the upcoming season.

While Neesham played the 2025-26 Ford Trophy for Auckland as a freelancer, he hasn’t played a Super Smash game for them since 2023. Wristspinner Adi Ashok, who missed out on a Black Caps central contract, is back on Auckland’s books. During the New Zealand winter, Ashok headed to Chennai to train with former India offspinner R Ashwin.

Luke Watson, the son of former Auckland coach and South African batter Doug Watson, has earned his maiden contract with Auckland after playing two four-day Plunket Shield matches in the previous season.

Batter Nick Kelly, who is currently on tour with the Black Caps in the West Indies, has moved back to Northern Districts from Wellington after captaining the Firebirds in all three formats. Nineteen-year-old allrounder Snehith Reddy, who made his Plunket Shield debut in the previous season after representing New Zealand Under-19s, secured his first ND contract while veteran Jeet Raval has opted not to take a contract this season.

Henry Shipley, the former Canterbury quick, has switched to Wellington for the upcoming season. He is the new addition to the Firebirds after Michael Snedden announced his retirement from professional cricket last month. With Devon Conway back on Black Caps’ contract list, Wellington might also have access to him when national commitments permit.

Thomas O’Connor, the son of former New Zealand international Shayne O’Connor, has bagged his first Otago contract after emerging as one of the key performers for them in the previous season. A left-arm seamer like his father, Thomas claimed a match haul of 13 wickets against Auckland at the Eden Park Outer Oval in the Plunket Shield earlier this year and continued his fine form to put Otago on the brink of a title win.

Both Canterbury and Otago finished level on points and wins (four), which would have been the initial deciding factor, so it came down to a net-runs-per-wicket permutation – calculated on runs-per-wicket for minus runs-per-wicket against – across the whole season, which Canterbury were comfortably ahead on.

Lachie Harper earned his maiden contract at Canterbury after making his Plunket and Ford Trophy debuts for the team earlier this year.

Central Districts, meanwhile, welcomed allrounder Jake Gibson from Otago and awarded batter Sam Cassidy his first contract at the province. Tom Bruce is now a fully contracted player at CD after he had handed it back the previous season and turned up for Desert Vipers in the UAE’s ILT20, which clashed with the Super Smash.

List of contracted players

Auckland

Adi Ashok, Angus Olliver, Ben Lister, Bevon Jacobs, Cam Fletcher, Dale Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Jock McKenzie, Lachlan Stackpole, Luke Watson, Rohit Kumar (formerly known as Rohit Gulati), Ryan Harrison, Samrath Singh, Sean Solia, Simon Keene

Canterbury

Matt Boyle, Chad Bowes, Leo Carter, Sean Davey, Jesse Frew, Lachie Harper, Scott Jannett, Ish Sodhi, Rhys Mariu, Cole McConchie, Gus McKenzie, Cam Paul, Michael Rae, Matt Rowe, Fraser Sheat

Central Districts

Taylor Bettelheim, Tom Bruce, Sam Cassidy, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Joey Field, Toby Findlay, Dean Foxcroft, Jake Gibson, Curtis Heaphy, Jayden Lennox, Ajaz Patel, Brett Randell, Brad Schmulian, Ray Toole

Northern Districts

Xavier Bell, Josh Brown, Joe Carter, Katene Clarke, Kristian Clarke, Henry Cooper, Matt Fisher, Zak Gibson, Brett Hampton, Nick Kelly, Scott Kuggeleijn, Ben Pomare, Robbie O’Donnell, Snehith Reddy, Tim Pringle

Otago

Matt Bacon, Jack Boyle, Max Chu, Mason Crane, Jacob Cumming, Zac Cumming, Danru Ferns, Luke Georgeson, Troy Johnson, Tom Jones, Ben Lockrose, Jarrod McKay, Thomas O’Connor, Thorn Parkes, Jamal Todd

Wellington

Callum McLachlan, Gareth Severin, Henry Shipley, James Hartshorn, Jesse Tashkoff, Liam Dudding, Logan van Beek, Muhammad Abbas, Nick Greenwood, Oscar Jackson, Peter Younghusband, Sam Mycock, Samuel Morgan, Tim Robinson, Yahya Zeb

Deivarayan Muthu is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo



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