Cricket: Taranaki's Tom Bruce returns for Stags

CD Cricket

Photo by: Margot Butcher

Central Stags captain Tom Bruce is wasting no time returning to Super Smash duty after a successful stint in UAE with ILT20 champion the Desert Vipers.

Last season’s NZC Super Smash men’s player of the year and victorious captain is tearing in from the tarmac as one of three changes to the Stags ahead of tomorrow’s fifth-round game against the Wellington Firebirds at the Basin.

Bruce will link up with his team tomorrow, and returns to a squad that has won just one game from four matches, after a hectic start to their 2025/26 campaign.

That win was against tomorrow’s quarry whom they beat in Palmerston North in the first round.

The vastly experienced, aggressive skipper is set to become his team’s second most capped T20 player if he takes the field as expected in Wellington, to play his 97th T20 for the team.

That pushes him ahead of Will Young and Josh Clarkson, who along with stand-in captain Jayden Lennox are meanwhile heading in the opposite direction to the airport for the BLACKCAPS’ imminent ODI Series in India.

Tall top order batter Mason Hughes also comes into the Stags twelve on the back of an outstanding Chapple Cup for champion Manawatū.

The 27-year-old left-handed clean striker was contracted to the Stags last season, but frustratingly sat out the bulk of the summer with injury.

Now he’s in the frame to play his first Super Smash match since January 2022, two T20 caps under his belt, while Hawke’s Bay 21-year-old right-hander Sam Cassidy also joins this season’s squad for the first time, having debuted in last summer’s Super Smash, making two appearances without getting to bat.

The barnstorming Central Hinds have also tweaked their squad ahead of their rematch with the Blaze — who, under Melie Kerr, edged them in the opening round.

The Hinds’ selectors have brought in Manawatū pace bowler Jess Ogden for Claudia Green, and leg-spinner Georgia Atkinson for off-spinner Lizzy Cohr as they look to go three wins on the bounce.

75-match veteran Atkinson was unavailable for the first round of the season due to a family commitment, with rookie and Wairarapa teammate Cohr getting her first opportunity.

The Hinds have since gone from strength to strength after back-to-back wins over the Canterbury Magicians — impressing with the bat, and picking up bonus points in both matches.

They set a new Hinds T20 record total of 191/5 three days ago on a Saxton Oval belter — the sixth highest total by any team in the history of the women’s Super Smash.

Captain Hannah Rowe is the team's top wicket-taker while explosive duo Flora Devonshire (100 runs at SR 175.43 ) and import Bryony Smith (88 at SR 176) are both in the top six run-scorers in the women’s competition nationally.

Finalists two summers ago, the Hinds now sit just four points behind the Blaze on the ladder, equal with the Sparks on 10 points in the top three and eyeing up the top spot.

The Stags meanwhile sit equal last on the men’s table (with Northern Brave men likewise on four points) as they reach the halfway mark of the regular season, after twin losses to the Canterbury Kings, and a loss to the Volts in Alexandra before that.

The unbeaten Kings are on top with 12 points from just three matches, but the Firebirds are just two points ahead of the Stags ahead of tomorrow’s return showdown.

Ajaz Patel is the top wicket-taker overall in the men’s competition with seven victims, while Dane Cleaver is the top run-scorer, with 145 runs after his boundary-fest against the Firebirds in Palmerston North.

The team will be looking to rediscover the touch that secured them a strong opening round win in that match, with the Hinds opening the card from 12.40pm tomorrow and the Stags on from 4.25pm.

Both matches are streamed free-to-air in NZ on TVNZ+ and Duke, with the Central teams then getting a breather before they head up to Hamilton next week - then it’s home for three doubleheaders at Napier’s McLean Park later this month.