Ashley Noffke knows how to help teams win.
And the Otago Volts certainly need a few pointers.
They are enduring a lengthy title drought.
They last tasted success nearly 12 years ago when they beat Wellington by four wickets in the T20 final.
Jacob Duffy is the only Otago survivor from that game and he has been called into the Black Caps test side. He will miss the Volts’ opening one-dayer against Northern Districts in Whangarei on Sunday as well as a good chunk of the early season games.
That is a big blow. The 30-year-old has carried the attack for five or six years.
But Noffke has faith in the rest of the bowling unit. He is also well-versed in getting the best out of his players.
He replaced former coach Dion Ebrahim, who resigned towards the end of last season, and he has an impressive track record.
The 47-year-old led the London Spirit to glory in the women’s final of The Hundred in August.
The former Australian all-rounder also helped the Brisbane Heat win the Women’s Big Bash in 2019-20.
Since shifting to coaching, he has contributed to seven championships. That is a good hit rate.
He has been based in Dunedin for the past seven or eight weeks and reckons the team have hidden talents.
"The thing I’ve always said to the guys since I’ve come in is that they need to believe in themselves as a group," he said.
"And the one thing that I sensed early on is they were just unsure. My job is to create certainty and remind them of the strengths they have.
"There’s a lot of hidden strengths within this group, especially in our batting group."
It is a young batting group, though.
New recruit Leo Carter is the oldest at 29. Thorn Parkes, 24, Jacob Cumming, 20, Jamal Todd, 20, and Llew Johnson, 24, are all under 25, and Dean Foxcroft and Dale Phillips have more experience but are still relatively young at 26.
"A lot of batting groups in first-class cricket will always have a couple of 30-year-olds or whatever.
"Obviously, we’ve lost Ruds [Hamish Rutherford], who was a fantastic player for our region.
"But Leo’s decided to move down [from Canterbury]. And I think he’s fitting into our group really well. He’s got some confidence and I’d like that to rub off on our group.
"We’ve got some raw talent. But they’re starting to really understand how it works.
"And I love the dots starting to be connected. So when you say brand, we will be an aggressive team.
"Will we get it right all the time? No, probably not. I’m OK with that. But as long as we’re leading towards winning more games of cricket and understanding how games of cricket are won then we’re a chance, you know."
The bowling unit is at the other end of the age spectrum.
Duffy, 30, Matt Bacon, 31, Travis Muller, 31, and Andrew Hazeldine, 30, have left their 20s behind.
Newly minted captain Luke Georgeson, 25, and Jarrod McKay, 24, help push down the average age.
The bowling stocks look a bit thin, though. The loss of Duffy for the early part of the season is a setback.
"Yeah, it’s a blow. But it’s up to the other guys and bowlers in the squad to be able to stand up and do their job. They’re good players.
"They’ve got to hold their own now. That’s the challenge of our group."
Georgeson has an injury and will play as a specialist batter in the opening game.
He was Otago’s leading wicket-taker in the one-day format last season. He nabbed 16 wickets, including two five-wicket bags.
The all-rounder scored a century in the preliminary final loss to Auckland, so he shapes as an important player for Otago.
Georgeson’s promotion to captain means he will shoulder an even heavier load.
"He’s just a really considered, calm character," Noffke said.
"I think he’s the type of guy that over time will be the most consistent around our group in terms of how we go about our cricket.
"He’s a quality all-around cricketer. And I think he’ll have the respect of the squad."
Otago had a training camp in Alexandra but they did not play any preseason games.
Canterbury approached them late about organising a warm-up fixture but it did not fit into the schedule.
Noffke is aware Otago have not enjoyed a lot of success. They have not won the first-class competition since 1987-88 and their last one-day title was in 2007-08.
That does not mean he has lowered his expectations.
"I want to see us play a consistent style of cricket where we’re trying to win cricket games.
"I don’t want to sit there and wait for someone to muck up so we’re able to win. We want to be able to put pressure on our opposition and win cricket games.
"There’s so many hidden talents in this group. The thing is they’ve got to believe that, though.
"I can say it as many times as I want but, at the end of the day, they’ve got to believe that individually. And then they’ve got to come together as a group to feel like we can put pressure on our opposition.
"There’s no reason why we can’t."
