Northern Districts will host the Wellington Firebirds in Whangarei on Sunday for the first round of the Ford Trophy one day competition.  Tim Southee will join the team after he withdrew from the BLACKCAPS Test match against West Indies due to the birth of his daughter.  Nick Kelly is set for his first game for the senior side this season, having averaged almost 50 in last year's Ford Trophy competition. Kelly is in strong form, having performed well for the Northern Districts A team in the T20 tournament in Taupo as well as delivering a match winning innings for Counties Manukau in their Hawke Cup/Fergus Hickey competition last weekend.

Daniel Flynn will be rested due to a hip injury. Zak Gibson is also recovering from a side strain so was not considered for selection.

The teams will also be competing for the A.D.G Trophy, which was introduced for one day matches between Northern Districts and Wellington to honour Andy Roberts after his sudden death at the age of 42 in 1989. The Boards of ND and Cricket Wellington jointly agreed to reintroduce the trophy this season.  The trophy will be presented to the winner of the Ford Trophy match by Northland Cricket President Murray Child at Cobham Oval at the conclusion of the match.  Northern Districts were the last recipients of the A.D.G Roberts Trophy in 2004-05.

Northern Districts to Face Wellington Firebirds (to be reduced to 12 on Sunday 3 December):

Dean Brownlie, © Bay of Plenty

Brent Arnel, Hamilton

James Baker, Hamilton

Anton Devcich, Hamilton

Brett Hampton, Bay of Plenty

Nick Kelly, Counties Manukau

Scott Kuggeleijn, Hamilton

Daryl Mitchell, Hamilton

Brett Randell, Northland

Tim Seifert, Waikato Valley

Ish Sodhi, Counties Manukau

Tim Southee, Northland

BJ Watling, Hamilton

Ford Trophy - Men's One-Day Match - Round One

Cobham Oval, Whangarei - Sunday, 3 December 2017, 11:00am.  Free Entry.