20 Feb 2025The Northern Districts Cricket Association are delighted to announce contract extensions for coaches BJ Watling, Daniel Flynn and Peter Borren, taking them through to the completion of the 2025/26 season.
The extensions provide the ND High Performance (HP) programme with another season of consistency amongst its support staff, with no changes to its full-time coaching personnel since the start of the 2023/24 season.
“I’m really pleased to be able to extend the contracts of our full-time HP coaching staff for another season” said ND’s GM of Performance Ian Sandbrook.
“All three coaches – BJ and Daniel with the men’s programme, and Peter with the women’s – have done an excellent job in progressing individual players, their respective teams, and our overall HP programme with their dedication, skill, and expertise.”
Following a 16-year playing career which saw him make 243 appearances for Northern Districts, BJ Watling spent time working with the ND ‘A’ side and as coach of the Wellington Firebirds before taking on the Head Coach role at Northern Districts in 2023.
Watling oversaw an impressive 2023/24 Plunket Shield campaign with a final day near miss at Seddon Park, whilst his side has shown growth in white ball cricket with a second placed finish on the Super Smash table this season.
“It's exciting to get another opportunity to work with this group,” said Watling, whose extension sees him commit to a fourth successive season as Head Coach of a domestic side in New Zealand.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the different challenges involved in leading this team, working alongside some very talented cricketers that are all at different stages of their careers and hopefully pushing them to higher honours alongside competing hard in the domestic campaigns.
We have shown glimpses of this over the last two years and it's a great opportunity to continue to push forward in that direction.”
Daniel Flynn will continue as BJ Watling’s Assistant through the 2025/26 season. Holder of the most centuries for ND in Plunket Shield cricket, Flynn previously worked as Assistant Coach of the ND Women’s programme and has experience as Head Coach of the Bay of Plenty Men’s side, where he worked with the likes of current ND contracted cricketers Ben Pomare and Fergus Lellman who were breaking into representative cricket at the time.
“I’m looking forward for another summer working alongside BJ to help this group continue to grow,” said Flynn, who has also spent time as batting coach for the New Zealand national side on last year’s Test tour in Bangladesh.
“I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work with lots of talented individuals and hopefully as a collective we can finish the season strong in the Plunket Shield and continue to build over the winter ahead of the 2025/26 season.”
Watling was quick praise the work of his assistant over the last two seasons, with Flynn’s batting expertise complementing Watling’s focus on a talented ND bowling unit.
“It’s great to have Flynny around for another season,” Watling added.
“His work ethic and desire for this group to get better is a huge asset for us and myself.
He has been a good sounding board for me and someone I will continue to learn from as well.”
Heading up the Northern Districts Women’s programme for another campaign will be Pete Borren. Following a distinguished 12-year international career with the Netherlands, Borren has made a seamless transition into coaching with experience working for the Netherlands Men’s Team at the 2022 T20 World Cup, and has also spent time as Assistant Coach of the ND Men’s programme during the 2022/23 campaign across all formats.
During his two seasons at ND, Borren has coached the Women’s side to back-to-back Super Smash Elimination Final appearances, the first time in their history to have reached the Finals stages.
Jess Watkin has joined from the Central Hinds and has flourished under Borren with captaincy responsibility and a top-order batting role, whilst youngsters Tash Wakelin and Eve Wolland represented the NZ U19’s in the recent World Cup showing strong progression in the ND female pathway.
“I’m excited at the opportunity to continue working with the ND Women’s team for another season,” said Borren.
“We’re trying to foster a team environment where we can consistently compete to win.
It’s a privilege to help some of our talent young players on their journey to become White Ferns.”
The contact extensions of Northern District’s three full-time high-performance coaches sets the organisation up for another strong season of domestic cricket.
“From my perspective, retaining high calibre individuals who care deeply about ND Cricket and the programme is crucial to what we’re trying to achieve,” added Sandbrook.
“I know all three coaches have that desire and our staff and players are excited to continue working with them.”
