Northern Districts get to keep their stars

The Black Caps' loss is the Northern Knights' gain.

The Plunket Shield leaders will have the services of seamers Tim Southee and Brent Arnel along with opening bat BJ Watling for their third-round match against the Wellington Firebirds starting in Hamilton on Tuesday.

The trio were part of the New Zealand Invitation XI that drew their three-day match against Pakistan that ended in Queenstown yesterday but none of them gained selection for the Black Caps in the squad for the first two tests against the visitors.

That gives Knights coach Grant Bradburn a plethora of riches after his side convincingly won their opening two matches of the first-class cricket season.

Bradburn has elected to work with an extended squad ahead of the home clash against Wellington, with Graeme Aldridge and Peter McGlashan nursing minor injuries. "We probably won't settle on our side until Monday," Bradburn said.

"Graeme has a tight quadricep and Peter has a minor calf strain. We're also wary with the workload for Trent Boult in first-class play after recovering from a back stress fracture.

"But it's nice to have such tough decisions to make."

Southee and Arnel will be hard to leave out of the starting XI against Wellington, but Bradburn has a host of form players to choose from following his side's second successive Shield win within three days in Whangarei, where Anton Devcich and Jono Boult also put forward strong cases for selection. "It was fantastic to see those guys do well," Bradburn said.

"It was always our intention this season to try to extend our squad so players were ready to step in and we've already seen that happen. You're only as strong as your back-up squad and it was exciting to see the young guys step in and perform."

An intense pre-season programme has paid early dividends for the Knights, and Bradburn credited some of their success to superior fitness which was reflected in all formats of the game. "We've been so much fitter than the two teams we've come up against so far. We've put a huge emphasis on fielding and it's been pleasing to see that preparation come out in performance."

ND squad to meet Wellington: James Marshall (c), BJ Watling, Brad Wilson, Michael Parlane, Anton Devcich, Kane Williamson, Joseph Yovich, Peter McGlashan, Graeme Aldridge, Jono Boult, Tim Southee, Bradley Scott, Anurag Verma, Brent Arnel, Trent Boult.

- © Fairfax NZ News