When the men's one-day Ford Trophy kicks off the NZC Domestic season tomorrow (Wednesday) in Auckland, Wellington and Nelson, players will get to test their game under revised Playing Conditions designed with an eye to the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup that South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe will host late next year.
NZC will trial using one ball per innings for the first five rounds of this season's national competition — as opposed to two new balls per innings, with the second taken at the 35-over mark.
It's a move that will have swing bowlers salivating to take the ball at the death, and Central Stags batter and BLACKCAP Will Young says the nuances in a close game will be intriguing.
"It reminds me of when you stumble across old international highlights, and watch the death bowling and you can see that the ball's a bit softer and reverse-swinging — and it's really difficult for the batter to score at more than a run-a-ball in those last 10-15 overs.
"I think it adds a really interesting dynamic to the game and to the format, so I quite like the idea of trialling the single ball and bringing back the art of getting the ball to reverse swing.
"With the ball doing a bit more at the back end of the innings, it will challenge the batters to figure out different ways to generate a strike rate," Young believes.
"It'll be interesting to see if it leads to a different style of playing or, for instance, a different approach to the power play."
With The Ford Trophy regular season divided into two distinct blocks — the first five rounds from now until November; the last five rounds plus finals in February next year, NZC will review the trial after the first block of games to decide whether to continue it or revert to two balls per innings for the back half.
Young's magnaminous interest in the challenges of playing reverse swing comes as he stands on the cusp of his own 'hat-trick'.
The experienced 33-year-old with exactly 150 List A one-day matches to his name scored pivotal centuries back-to-back across last summer's Ford Trophy Elimination and Grand Finals, just two days apart.
Should he manage the three-figure feat again this Wednesday in the Stags' opening round game against Northern Districts in Nelson, he'll become the first to machine out three consecutive hundreds in the history of a national competition now in its 55th year.
Young says last summer's Grand Final at the Cello Basin Reserve is his new favourite Ford Trophy memory.
So it should be, after he helped chase down top qualifier Canterbury's fulsome 302/7 in which a red-hot Henry Nicholls had plundered 115 of his own, supported by a Tom Latham 80.
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The odds were not on a successful chase, but Young (157, at first drop) and Curtis Heaphy (105) responded with a Stags record second-wicket partnership of 257 for Central to snatch the title by six wickets.
In the earlier 2v3 eliminator at the same ground, Young had enjoyed a knock of 105 in a 211-run win against the Wellington Firebirds.
"It was an awesome campaign for the Stags, and the Basin is such a cool ground to play at so I really enjoyed both of those matches," he says.
So he won't mind at all that this summer's finals have been inked in for the same venue, for Friday 19 and Sunday 21 February 2027.
The Wellington Firebirds begin their campaign and 150 years celebration season at home there tomorrow, at 10.30am against the Otago Volts — two teams hungering for a better one-day season.
Meanwhile the Stags and ND will face off at Saxton Oval, and the Auckland Aces will be hosting Canterbury in a big clash at Eden Park's Kennards Hire Community Oval — the same turf where Canterbury lifted the first-class Plunket Shield in a consoling final match of the season last summer.
All the first round squads will be announced by the Major Associations by noon today, and remarkably a sprinkling of BLACKCAPS looks set to be involved, even with concurrent BLACKCAPS and New Zealand A activities against India and India A in a full-on start to the New Zealand season.
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There's a special place in Young’s heart for the one-day format, and not only because it's brought him 63 ODI caps and his four BLACKCAPS centuries (alongside 23 Test and 20 T20i appearances).
"I just think it's a really good test of all your cricketing skills," he says.
"It's a really good hybrid between the smash-bash of T20 and the problem-solving and graft of four-day cricket.
"You've got all different types of challenges that are thrown at you throughout a full day, and it's physical, too. You really know about it at the end of the day — you're knackered!"
We decided to risk tempting fate by pointing out to the batter himself the possibility of the unprecedented century feat.
Young barely blinked, proclaiming it "extra motivation."
Traditionally, the big runs come in the back end of the season, when tracks are drier, and pace bowlers get less assistance.
"In spring in New Zealand, weather has a major effect on the style of cricket that's played on any given day, so as a batter, you've got to be adept at summing up what the conditions are doing as quickly as you can," explains Young.
"If you're batting first, you have to figure out what's a good score as you go — chasing is an advantage in that respect, you've seen how it's playing, and that's all part of the beauty and skills of one-day cricket.
"It's never one set template — you just sort of roll with the punches, create your plan as you go to hopefully bring out what's required on the day.
"I love this format," he adds, “and I think The Ford Trophy is really well set up in New Zealand so I'm excited to get back into it."
He won't be alone in that regard: 66 players are champing at the bit, looking forward to playing cricket again after the grind of the preseason.
Young: "I think everyone enjoys the first five rounds because we're all raring to go.
"You'll take stock at the halfway point, go off and play the Plunket Shield and Super Smash — then remember how to play one-day cricket again, later in the summer.
"By then, usually the squads have all changed and the conditions have changed so it's good fun, and fascinating to see how it plays out each season."
It's also one of the most accessible competitions in a major national sport in this country.
The Ford Trophy action is streamed live and free on NZC YouTube every round, with livescoring on tap at www.nzc.nz — and entry to watch in person is free at every Ford Trophy match around the motu.
The toss is scheduled at each of the three venues this Wednesday for 10 a.m NZT.
2026/27 First five rounds:
Round 1 — Wednesday 28 October (Auckland, Wellington, Nelson)
Round 2 — Saturday 31 October (Mount Maunganui, Wellington, Dunedin)
Round 3 — Wednesday 4 November (Wellington, Nelson, Dunedin)
Round 4 — Sunday 8 November (Whangārei, Napier, Wellington)
Round 5 — Thursday 12 November (Auckland, Napier, Christchurch)