Black Sticks Name Their Side for India’s Centenary Series, and the 1926 Story Comes Full Circle
A hundred years after India’s first hockey tour to New Zealand, the two countries are doing it again.
The Indian Centenary Series runs at Lloyd Elsmore Park in Auckland on 19, 21 and 22 November, with the Vantage Black Sticks men hosting India in three matches. It marks a century since the 1926 tour, the one that drew more than 120,000 spectators to packed venues across Wellington and Auckland and started a hockey friendship that has lasted ever since.
New Zealand have already named their side, and it’s a fascinating mix. Five players join the wider group for the first time: Dean Clarkson, Javahn Jones, Sam Lints, Tim Greenwood and Zander Fraser. Goalkeeper Richard Joyce returns after stepping away from international hockey in 2020. The full 20-man group also includes Aidan Sarikaya, Benji Culhane, Dylan Thomas, Gus Nelson, Joe Morrison, Jonty Elmes, Luke Holmes, Matt Ruetsch, Nic Woods, Patrick Ward, Ryan Parr, Sam Hiha, Scott Cosslett and Tim Neild.
India’s squad, by contrast, is still to come. Coach Craig Fulton has already said the group will be new-look, that a lot of the senior players won’t travel, and that he will travel with the India A side himself. The tour is a trial run for the next cycle as much as it is a celebration, with Fulton planning to pick a new core group afterwards for the Pro League and the road to Los Angeles 2028.
The schedule is set. Match one is Thursday 19 November at 6:30pm local time, match two Saturday 21 November at 4:00pm, match three Sunday 22 November at 2:00pm. In Pakistan time that’s 10:30am, 8:00am and 6:00am on the same days, so set the alarm for the weekend games. New Zealand Defence Force sides play curtain-raisers before the matches, a nod to the military roots of that first sporting contest between the two countries, and all matches are broadcast live on TVNZ+.
For our money, the result almost doesn’t matter here. A century of hockey, a fresh Black Sticks group, and an India side in transition. That’s a series worth watching on its own terms.