Northern Districts Cricket has named right-arm pace bowler James Naylor as the final contracted men’s player for the 2026/27 season. This is Naylor’s first domestic contract, rounding out an impressive list of 16 coached once again by BJ Watling and Daniel Flynn. 

Naylor is a Counties-Manukau man and has been part of the ND A programme for a number of years. He made his First-class debut in November 2025, playing three games with best figures of 4/74 against the Firebirds. Although injury curtailed the second half of his season, he’d more than shown he could perform at Plunket Shield level and earned his place on the 2026/27 contract list. 

The Northern Districts women’s contract announcement will follow later in the year along with domestic competition schedules.



Northern Districts Men 2026/27 Contracted Players

Xavier Bell

Josh Brown

Joe Carter

Katene Clarke

Kristian Clarke

Henry Cooper

Matt Fisher

Zak Gibson

Brett Hampton

Nick Kelly**

Scott Kuggeleijn

James Naylor*

Robbie O'Donnell

Ben Pomare

Tim Pringle

Snehith Reddy**

*First domestic contract

**Returning to Northern Districts contract list 



Head Coach: BJ Watling

Assistant Coach: Daniel Flynn