The 25-year-old South African-born player will captain Otago this season.
This time last year he had not long arrived back in the country following a two-year Covid-enforced absence.
He left New Zealand at the end of the 2019-20 season to visit family and friends in the republic and was unable to return.
New Zealand introduced some of the toughest border restrictions in the world in response to the pandemic and Foxcroft had to sit out the entire 2020-21 and
2021-22 seasons.
He quickly made up for the lost time upon his return.
The right-hander clouted a competition-high 424 runs in the Super Smash, and was Otago’s leading scorer in the Plunket Shield with 631 runs.
He was crowned New Zealand domestic cricketer of the year and was called into the Black Caps in July.
Foxcroft made his debut for his adopted country in a T20 against the UAE in Dubai in August.
The following month he was selected in the one-day side for a match against Bangladesh.
His appointment as captain underscores just how indispensable he has become in the Volts camp.
Foxcroft’s first challenge as new leader will to be help his charges overcome a strong Northern Districts lineup in a Plunket Shield match at Seddon Park beginning today.
He has a couple of newbies in the squad. Former Wellington player Luke Georgeson and promising batter Jamal Todd have been included in the 12.
Georgeson will likely open alongside Jacob Cumming, while Todd might have to carry the drinks for the opener.
The other notable inclusion is the return of Matt Bacon. He has been a regular for the Volts in the limited-over versions of the game, but he has not played any first-class cricket since November 2021.
The Volts will be without experienced opener and former captain Hamish Rutherford, who the Otago Daily Times understands will miss the opening four games of the season.
Seamer Travis Muller is also unavailable.
Former Black Caps wicketkeeper BJ Watling will make his debut as Northern Districts coach. He has a talented group to help him start with a win.
Black Caps test bowler Neil Wagner will spearhead the attack with Scott Kuggeleijn, and Matt Fisher returns from injury to play his first competitive fixture in 12 months.
Henry Cooper is back to taunt Otago some more. He has three hundreds against the Volts, including a career-best 200 at Molyneux Park in 2021.
Explosive wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert will take the gloves after spending large portions of the offseason playing franchise and international T20 cricket in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, UAE and England. He has torched Otago on multiple occasions as well.
Plunket Shield
Hamilton, starts today
Otago: Jacob Cumming, Luke Georgeson, Dean Foxcroft (captain), Thorn Parkes, Dale Phillips, Jake Gibson, Max Chu, Ben Lockrose, Jacob Duffy, Matt Bacon, Jarrod McKay, Jamal Todd.
Northern Districts: Henry Cooper, Jeet Raval (captain), Sandeep Patel, Joe Carter, Tim Seifert, Katene Clarke, Brett Hampton, Scott Kuggeleijn, Neil Wagner, Matthew
Fisher, Joe Walker, Kristian Clarke.
