Otago cricket team

Otago

Personnel
Captain	Luke Georgeson
Coach	Josh Tasman-Jones
Team information
Founded	1864
Home ground	University Oval
Capacity	3,500
History
First-class debut	Canterbury in 1864 at  Dunedin
Plunket Shield  wins	13
The Ford Trophy  wins	2
Men's Super Smash  wins	2
Official website	www.otagocricket.co.nz

The Otago cricket team, are a New Zealand first-class cricket team which first played representative cricket in 1864. ^[1] The team represents the Otago, Southland and North Otago regions of New Zealand's South Island. Their main governing board is the Otago Cricket Association which is one of six major associations that make up New Zealand Cricket. ^[2]

They compete in the Plunket Shield first-class competition and The Ford Trophy one day competition as well as in the Men's Super Smash competition as the Volts (a nickname they have had since the 1997–98 season ^[3]

Cricket was first played in Otago in 1849, the year after the province was settled by Europeans, and the Otago Cricket Association was founded in 1876. ^{[1] [4]} The Otago representative team played in the first match which is considered to have first-class status to have been played in New Zealand, a January 1864 fixture with Canterbury which was part of a four team tournament which also included Southland and an English team led by George Parr which was touring Australia. ^{[1] [2] [5]}

The modern Otago team plays most of its home games at the University Oval in Dunedin, but occasionally plays games at the Queenstown Events Centre, Queen's Park Ground in Invercargill and Molyneux Park in Alexandra. The team plays first-class, List A and Twenty20 matches against other New Zealand provincial sides, although in the past has also played against touring sides.

The team's head-coach for the 2024–25 season, Ashley Noffke, ^[6] left to take up a position as assistant coach with the Pakistan national team after the end of the season. Former New Zealand coach Gary Stead took over the role in a temporary facility over the winter period, ^{[7] [8]} before Josh Tasman-Jones was named as the team's coach in August. ^[9] The 2024–25 captain was all-rounder Luke Georgeson.

Honours

• Plunket Shield (13)

1924–25, 1932–33, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1957–58, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1987–88

• The Ford Trophy (2)

1987–88, 2007–08

• Men's Super Smash (2)

2008–09, 2012–13

First-class records

Otago Volts batsmen at the Basin Reserve in December 2019

See also: List of New Zealand first-class cricket records

As of 28 October 2022 ^[10]

Team totals

• Highest total for – 651/9 declared v Wellington at University Oval, Dunedin, 2012/13
• Highest total against – 777 by Canterbury at Lancaster Park, Christchurch, 1996/97
• Lowest total for – 34 v Wellington at Carisbrook, Dunedin, 1956/57
• Lowest total against – 25 by Canterbury at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, 1866/67

Individual batting

• Highest score – 385, B Sutcliffe against Canterbury at Lanaster Park, Christchurch, 1952/53
• Most runs in season – 1,027 GM Turner, 1975/76
• Most runs in career – 6,589 CD Cumming, 2000/01–2011/12

Highest partnership for each wicket

• 1st – 373 B Sutcliffe and L Watt v Auckland at Auckland, 1950/51
• 2nd – 254 KJ Burns and KR Rutherford v Wellington at Oamaru, 1987/88
• 3rd – 306 SB Haig and NT Broom v Central Districts at Napier, 2009/10
• 4th – 239 NB Beard and NT Broom v Auckland at Hamilton, 2012/13
• 5th – 266 B Sutcliffe and WS Haig v Auckland at Dunedin, 1949/50
• 6th – 256 NF Kelly and MW Chu v Central Districts at Dunedin, 2021/22
• 7th – 190 NG Smith and MJG Rippon v Northern Districts at Dunedin, 2019/20
• 8th – 165* JN Crawford and AG Eckhold v Wellington at Wellington, 1914/15
• 9th – 208 WC McSkimming and BE Scott v Auckland at Auckland, 2004/05
• 10th – 184 RC Blunt and W Hawksworth v Canterbury at Christchurch, 1931/32

Bowling

• Best inning bowling – 9/50 AH Fisher v Queensland at Dunedin, 1896/97
• Best match bowling figures – 15/94 FH Cooke v Canterbury at Christchurch, 1882/83
• Most wickets in season – 54 SL Boock, 1978/79
• Most wickets in career – 399 SL Boock, 1973/74–1990/91

Contracted players

Ahead of the 2025–26 season, 15 players were awarded contracts to play for Otago. In addition, Jacob Duffy and Glenn Phillips were both awarded New Zealand Cricket central contracts for the season. Other, non-contracted players may play for the side during the season. ^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}

As of 13 July 2025

No.	Name	Nationality	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
34	Matt Bacon	New Zealand	(1993-04-13) 13 April 1993 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
33	Jack Boyle	New Zealand	(1996-03-24) 24 March 1996 (age 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm offbreak
12	Max Chu	New Zealand	(2000-03-21) 21 March 2000 (age 25)	Right-handed	Left-arm fast
	Mason Clarke	New Zealand	(2007-02-20) 20 February 2007 (age 18)	Left-handed
6	Jacob Cumming	New Zealand	(2003-12-14) 14 December 2003 (age 22)	Left-handed	Right-arm medium
3	Zac Cumming	New Zealand	(2005-07-04) 4 July 2005 (age 20)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg-break
32	Jacob Duffy	New Zealand	(1994-08-02) 2 August 1994 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	New Zealand central contract
94	Danru Ferns	South Africa	(1994-02-23) 23 February 1994 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
26	Luke Georgeson	New Zealand	(1999-04-14) 14 April 1999 (age 26)	Left-handed	Right-arm medium-fast	Captain. Holds dual Irish/New Zealand citizenship
7	Jake Gibson	New Zealand	(1997-08-07) 7 August 1997 (age 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
31	Andrew Hazeldine	England	(1994-07-13) 13 July 1994 (age 31)	Left-handed	Left-arm fast	Holds dual British/New Zealand citizenship
2	Troy Johnson	New Zealand	(1997-10-01) 1 October 1997 (age 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm offbreak
36	Llew Johnson	New Zealand	(2000-02-01) 1 February 2000 (age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg-break
17	Ben Lockrose	New Zealand	(2000-03-24) 24 March 2000 (age 25)	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
27	Jarrod McKay	New Zealand	(2000-06-08) 8 June 2000 (age 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
86	Thorn Parkes	New Zealand	(2000-08-10) 10 August 2000 (age 25)	Left-handed	Right-arm leg break
23	Glenn Phillips	New Zealand	(1996-12-06) 6 December 1996 (age 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break	New Zealand central contract [15]
73	Jamal Todd	New Zealand	(2004-03-27) 27 March 2004 (age 21)	Left-handed	Right-arm off-break

Grounds

University Oval is used in Dunedin, with occasional matches in Invercargill (Queen's Park) and at the Queenstown Events Centre. Many matches have been played at Molyneux Park in Alexandra in recent decades, particularly during the Christmas-New Year holiday season. The warm, dry summer climate of Central Otago can make for better cricketing conditions than the wetter coastal areas. Oamaru (Whitestone Centennial Park) has been used in the past but not recently.

Notable former players

Main article: List of Otago representative cricketers

New Zealand Gren Alabaster Jack Alabaster Bruce Blair Stephen Boock Neil Broom Lance Cairns Bevan Congdon Craig Cumming Jacob Duffy Arthur Fisher Walter Hadlee Warren Lees Brendon McCullum Nathan McCullum Noel McGregor Alex Moir Jimmy Neesham Aaron Redmond Mark Richardson

Hamish Rutherford Ken Rutherford Bert Sutcliffe Glenn Turner Neil Wagner Australia Brett Lee England Matthew Maynard Jonathan Trott Steven Finn Pakistan Billy Ibadulla Netherlands Ryan ten Doeschate West Indies Jason Holder

References

1. Otago cricket history, Evening Star , issue 21864, 30 October 1934, p. 4. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 23 February 2024.)
2. McCarron A (2010) New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 4. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. ISBN   978 1 905138 98 2 (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.)
3. Canty happy with major sponsor Archived 13 July 2012 at archive.today , CricInfo, 30 September 1998. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
4. Sixty years of cricket, Otago Daily Times , issue 23114, 13 February 1937, p. 22. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 23 February 2024.)
5. Carman AH ed (1981) A guide to first class matches played in New Zealand, 1863 to 1980, pp. 13–14. Nottingham: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. (Available online. Retrieved 23 February 2024.)
6. Former Aussie cricketer takes reins at Volts, Otago Daily Times , 12 June 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
7. Meikle H (2025) Stead to provide 'interim' coaching for Volts, Otago Daily Times , 24 June 2025. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
8. Seconi A (2025) Change vital to stay relevant: Coggan, Otago Daily Times , 2 July 2025. Retrieved 7 July 2025. (subscription required)
9. Seconi A (2025) Volts starting at the top, Otago Daily Times , 24 October 2025. Retrieved 24 October 2025.
10. Otago first-class records, CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 October 2022. (subscription required)
11. Otago Cricket Announces Four New Otago Contracts, Otago Cricket Association, 25 June 2025. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
12. Muthu D (2025) Dale Phillips moves to Auckland; Tim Seifert opts for casual contract with ND, CricInfo, 17 June 2025. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
13. New players confirmed in Otago list, Otago Daily Times , 27 June 2025. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
14. All-rounder selected, Otago Daily Times , 9 July 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
15. Glenn Phillips joins Otago Volts, New Zealand Cricket, 1 June 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.

External links

• Official website