Central Hinds
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The Central Hinds are the women's representative cricket team of the Central Districts Cricket Association, based in central New Zealand (excluding Wellington). The Major Association team is the only female team to draw players from both the main islands of New Zealand. They play their home games at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North, Saxton Oval, Nelson and McLean Park, Napier. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the Women's Super Smash Twenty20 competition and were originally known as Central Districts Women.
History
Central Districts Cricket Association comprises eight District Associations: Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua-Kapiti, Manawatu, Taranaki, Wairarapa and Whanganui in the North Island, and Marlborough and Nelson in the South Island.
Central Districts first joined the national Hallyburton Johnstone Shield in the 1979–80 season, finishing fourth with one win and three draws. In 1982–83, they finished second for the first time, behind Canterbury, who dominated the period.
The Central Hinds won their first title in 2005–06 (when the national women's one-day competition was named the State League), finishing second in the group stage before beating Canterbury in the final - helped by three wickets from Zara McWilliams and 55* from Sara McGlashan. They were the runner-up in 2007–08 before winning their second one-day title in 2009–10, with the final rained off and lifting the trophy as they had topped the group stage. They also won their only Super Smash title the same season, beating Auckland in the final by eight wickets.
The Central Hinds won their third one-day title in 2018–19, topping the group stage before beating the Auckland Hearts in a home final at Pukekura Park. Central Hinds batter Natalie Dodd was the leading run-scorer in the competition, with 652 runs.
Dodd and then-captain Anlo van Deventer set a New Zealand women's List A partnership record (all wickets) of 328 during the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield, for the second wicket against the Otago Sparks at Fitzherbert Park on 3 March 2019. In December 2019, Dodd and Jess Watkin set a national first-wicket record in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield with a partnership of 216 at Karori Park, Wellington.
The side was runner-up in the 2023–24 Super Smash, making the final for the first time since 2016. They lost to Wellington by one run (DLS) on the final ball of the match.
Grounds
The team's first primary home ground was Manawaroa Park, Palmerston North, with some matches played at Ongley Park in the same city.
In the 1990s, the side began playing at Victoria Park, Whanganui, as well as Fitzherbert Park in Palmerston North. In 1998, the team began playing in Napier, especially at Nelson Park, but also later at McLean Park. From the 2000s, their primary grounds were Pukekura Park, New Plymouth and Fitzherbert Park, along with stints at grounds such as Queen Elizabeth Park and Cornwall Park, Hastings.
Since 2020–21, the Central Hinds have primarily used Pukekura Park, McLean Park, Fitzherbert Park and (from 2021–22) Saxton Oval, Nelson, and play both their home and away Super Smash matches as doubleheaders with the Central Stags.
Players
2025/26 contracted squad
- Number denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
- ‡ denotes players with international caps.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batters | ||||||
| 21 | Emma McLeod ‡ | New Zealand | (2006-03-28)28 March 2006(age 20) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | CDCA contract |
| 33 | Cate Pedersen | New Zealand | (2002-07-31)31 July 2002(age 23) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | CDCA contract |
| 88 | Kerry-Anne Tomlinson ‡ | New Zealand | (1990-01-19)19 January 1990(age 36) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | CDCA contract |
| - | Abby Treder | New Zealand | (2006-01-28)28 January 2006(age 20) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | CDCA contract |
| All-rounders | ||||||
| 23 | Georgia Atkinson | New Zealand | (2000-04-23)23 April 2000(age 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | CDCA contract |
| 27 | Ocean Bartlett | New Zealand | (2003-06-27)27 June 2003(age 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | CDCA contract |
| 26 | Flora Devonshire ‡ | New Zealand | (2003-02-13)13 February 2003(age 23) | Left-handed | Left-arm off break | CDCA contract |
| 25 | Ashtuti Kumar | New Zealand | (2003-07-19)19 July 2003(age 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | CDCA contract |
| 74 | Hannah Rowe ‡ | New Zealand | (1996-10-03)3 October 1996(age 29) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | NZC contract |
| Wicket-keepers | ||||||
| 19 | Kate Gaging | New Zealand | (2001-07-19)19 July 2001(age 24) | Right-handed | — | CDCA contract |
| Bowlers | ||||||
| 34 | Aniela Apperley | New Zealand | (2004-09-12)12 September 2004(age 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | CDCA contract |
| - | Grace Foreman | New Zealand | (2005-03-04)4 March 2005(age 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | CDCA contract |
| 20 | Claudia Green | New Zealand | (1997-12-06)6 December 1997(age 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | CDCA contract |
| 7 | Rosemary Mair ‡ | New Zealand | (1998-11-07)7 November 1998(age 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | NZC contract |
| - | Jess Ogden | New Zealand | (2002-01-07)7 January 2002(age 24) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | CDCA contract |
Notable players
Players who have played for Central Districts and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):
- New Zealand Viv Sexton (1978)
- New Zealand Linda Fraser (1982)
- New Zealand Di Caird (1984)
- New Zealand Rose Signal (1984)
- New Zealand Liz Signal (1984)
- New Zealand Jackie Clark (1984)
- New Zealand Penny Kinsella (1988)
- New Zealand Trudy Anderson (1993)
- New Zealand Karen Musson (1993)
- New Zealand Delwyn Brownlee (1995)
- England Clare Connor (1995)
- New Zealand Helen Daly (1996)
- New Zealand Rebecca Rolls (1997)
- New Zealand Rachel Pullar (1997)
- New Zealand Kate Pulford (1999)
- New Zealand Donna Trow (1999)
- England Hannah Lloyd (1999)
- New Zealand Paula Gruber (2000)
- New Zealand Erin McDonald (2000)
- New Zealand Emily Travers (2000)
- New Zealand Aimee Watkins (2002)
- New Zealand Sara McGlashan (2003)
- Ireland Eimear Richardson (2005)
- New Zealand Rachel Priest (2007)
- New Zealand Rachel Candy (2007)
- New Zealand Abby Burrows (2009)
- New Zealand Natalie Dodd (2010)
- New Zealand Kate Ebrahim (2010)
- New Zealand Liz Perry (2010)
- Netherlands Esther Lanser (2010)
- Netherlands Kerry-Anne Tomlinson (2011)
- New Zealand Thamsyn Newton (2015)
- New Zealand Hannah Rowe (2015)
- New Zealand Jess Watkin (2018)
- Scotland Priyanaz Chatterji (2018)
- New Zealand Rosemary Mair (2019)
- New Zealand Rebecca Burns (2022)
- New Zealand Mikaela Greig (2024)
- England Hollie Armitage (2024)
- New Zealand Emma McLeod (2025)
- New Zealand Flora Devonshire (2025)
Players who have played for Central Districts and played internationally in sports other than cricket or indoor cricket are listed below:
- New Zealand Kendra Cocksedge - rugby union
- New Zealand Liz Perry - field hockey double international
- New Zealand Rebecca Rolls - association football double international
Honours
- Hallyburton Johnstone Shield: Winners (3): 2005–06, 2009–10, 2018–19
- Women's Super Smash: Winners (1): 2009–10