The Central Stags contracted players for next season are just days away from being inked in.

Young Napier allrounder CHRISTIAN LEOPARD has been offered the 16th and final spot on the first-class and Twenty20 champions’ professional roster for 2019/20.

After having signed the dotted line for the first time with the Stags last year, the 21-year-old former New Zealand U19 player gained valuable experience in eight Ford Trophy appearances for the Stags’ youthful one-day side in 2018/19, and scored his maiden first-class half century (52) in a first-round victory during two appearances for the strong Plunket Shield squad.

Today’s announcement brings the number of recontracted players to 13, but there are no new faces amongst the 16-strong list. Adam Milne and George Worker have previously been centrally contracted by NZC while Kieran Noema-Barnett is returning to contracted status this season, having been a contracted Stag prior to a 2014-2018 County stint in England — where his British ancestry enabled him to be contracted by Gloucestershire as a home player.

Leopard is currently nursing a quadriceps tear, picked up while playing off-season league cricket in Australia, but will be fully recovered in time for the first training camp of the new Stags season in September.

He had already scored two centuries from just five matches for his Darwin club Palmerston, averaging 51.60 — and playing against Stags teammate Josh Clarkson who is the league’s runaway leading allrounder with 476 runs at 68.00, including two centuries and three half centuries, and 15 wickets at 15.67, including a five-wicket bag.

Following the acceptance of contract offers, the rosters for all six of New Zealand’s Major Association teams will be inked in on 7 July 2019.

2019/20 CDCA contract offers — second round

Doug Bracewell (Hawke's Bay)*

Tom Bruce (Taranaki)*

Josh Clarkson (Nelson)*

Dane Cleaver (Manawatū)*

Greg Hay (Nelson)*

Christian Leopard (Hawke’s Bay)*

Willem Ludick (Nelson)*

Adam Milne (Manawatū)

Kieran Noema-Barnett (Hawke’s Bay)

Ajaz Patel (Hawke's Bay)*

Seth Rance (Wairarapa)*

Bevan Small (Manawatū)*

Ben Smith (Whanganui)*

Blair Tickner (Hawke's Bay)*

Ben Wheeler (Marlborough)*

George Worker (Manawatū)

*   Recontracted from 2018/19

Article added: Monday 01 July 2019