All still to play for in local cricket

As premier cricket takes a break for Christmas, some front runners have been found.

Stoke-Nayland are the team to beat, despite a loss in the final round before the break, with Jonty Raxworthy in hot form with the bat.

Averaging 47.33 with the bat, Jonty has amassed 284 runs over six innings to be one of the leading run scorers in the competition.

But, the current crown for best batsman lies with Stoke-Nayland’s Ryan du Plessis, who, with three not-outs and a high score of 141*, boasts a massive 92.8 run average at a strike rate of 99.36.

Nipping at his heels is Wolves’ (Wanderers/Motueka) Joe O’Connor, who has steadily notched up an 85.6 average with five not-outs from his 10 innings.

Wakatu’s Jatin Sandhir and Waimea Toi Toi United’s Ryan Flowers round out the top five batsmen with averages of 45 and 39.5, respectively.

Joseph has also impressed with the ball, picking up the most wickets of anyone in the competition with 27 and a best of 5-66.

His Wolves teammate Alex Brogan falls in just behind with 23 wickets, while Stoke-Nayland’s Jared Silvester has 19.

The best bowling performance of the season to date came from Stoke-Nayland’s Cameron Neame, who picked up an impressive seven wickets for just 33 runs.

Athletic College Old Boy’s Nick Chalmers has the season’s best bowling average, taking just eight runs to take a wicket. But with almost five times as many deliveries, Stoke-Nayland’s Ryan Edwards is just behind on a handy average of nine.

Behind the wickets, Wolves’ Kyle Paki Paki is tied for the current leader with an impressive 13 catches and one stumping, while Wakatu’s Dustin Emms-Healey has 11 catches and three stumpings.

With 10 rounds still to play in the New Year before three sets of finals for T20, one-day and two-day competitions, there’s still a lot of time for movement on the leaderboards and statistics.

The competition sees teams change between formats every fortnight, so every final spot is still up for grabs for any team that wants to take it.

Wolves and ACOB lead the current T20 leaderboard with an unbeaten two wins apiece, while Stoke-Nayland and the Wolves are nipping at their heels with one win to their name.

Stoke-Nayland are the clear front runners in the two-day competition with 65.1 points, ahead of Wolves on 45.9 and Wakatu on 39.3.

While in the one-day competition, Wolves are in the lead with 18 points ahead of Wakatu on 14 and Stoke-Nayland on 11.