LOCAL TALENT HIGHLIGHT OF CANTERBURY CRICKET 2016-17 CONTRACT

A focus on developing local talent is starting to pay dividends for Canterbury Cricket with 13 of the 14 first round contract players having represented Canterbury at Under 19 level or below.  The other highlight of the contract list is the young average age of 24 including the three centrally contracted NZ players.

There are three players contracted for the first time – Will Williams (Canterbury Country), Henry Shipley (Canterbury Country) and Michael Davidson (Christchurch Metro).

Henry Nicholls has been elevated up to a central contract with Hamish Bennett and Ryan McCone moving away from Canterbury this season.  Ronnie Hira has accepted full time employment in Auckland but may still be available for the Kings in the domestic T20 competition.

Director of Cricket and Head Coach, Gary Stead, said “this is a very exciting contract list in terms of both talent and potential.  We have a wonderful mix of experience with the likes of Ellis, Fulton and Astle and youth with the addition of several new contracted players.

A stated objective of Canterbury Cricket is to have 90% of our contracted players developed from Under 19 level down and we have seen this philosophy of focusing on developing our own talent pay off with this years contracted players.

It shows a clear attainable pathway for cricketers in Canterbury from the junior grades, through youth cricket and adult cricket to full Canterbury representation.”

FIRST ROUND CONTRACT LIST (ONE TO BE ADDED)

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