A century from New Zealand wicketkeeper BJ Watling has set up an intriguing final day in Northern District's Plunket Shield clash with Auckland at Seddon Park.

It took Dan Vettori two days of first-class cricket to make an impact in the Plunket Shield.

Jesse Ryder's six-month ban for failing a drug test expires today and he will rejoin the Otago squad on Monday to prepare for the start of domestic first-class cricket.

It may be cold comfort, but the New Zealand cricket team are far from alone when it comes to the difficulty of negotiating with Indian officials.

Question: Who'd be a bowler in the Ford Trophy? Answer: Auckland's Kyle Mills.

Two wickets in as many balls from Stuart Broad during the final session of play today has put England on top after two days of the second cricket test.

This is the summer to be a batsman in New Zealand domestic cricket. Bowlers are suffering as a combination of factors have the batsmen cashing in.

Apologies aren't always necessary, despite what an apologist might think. A prime example occurred yesterday, courtesy of New Zealand Cricket's Twitter account.

The year was 1989 and I was finishing intermediate at St Kentigern's School, a fancy Presbyterian learning establishment which occupies a pohutukawa-framed piece of coast at the bottom of Remuera, Auckland.

As Hamish Rutherford elbowed his way into cricket's record books yesterday, the mind went back to others on that roll of debutant century-makers.

Peter Fulton is the frontrunner to captain the New Zealand test team if Brendon McCullum is injured.

Next weekend, Grafton United Cricket Club will celebrate its sesquicentennial with a book launch, gala dinner and Twenty20 match featuring a host of former New Zealand players.

It's upon us. The tour we've been waiting all summer for. Finally, we're hosting a decent international team who also have English as their first language.

Ross Taylor's return to the national team didn't go as he'd have wanted but he would certainly have felt the public love.

The one gap on Nathan McCullum's cricketing CV could be filled next month.

As they assessed the wreckage of New Zealand's two tests against South Africa last month both captain and coach made a similar observation.

A piece of advice from his father has paid an impressive dividend for fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan.