Guptill-Bunce leads Aces for Plunket Shield opener

Friday 20 October 2017

Guptill-Bunce leads Aces for Plunket Shield opener

The Plunket Shield is back for 2017/18 with the Auckland Aces travelling to the Basin Reserve to take on the Wellington Firebirds in their opening Round One fixture.

Michael Guptill-Bunce leads the Aces into battle on Monday, captaining an “enthusiastic bunch of guys” with firepower throughout the batting and bowling lineup.

“We’ve got an exciting side, not just the guys who are playing but the whole squad. The Plunket Shield campaign could be something special for us,” Guptill-Bunce says.

“There will be plenty of youthful exuberance in the field and with our batting and bowling we hope to show [the Firebirds] some stuff they didn’t expect.”

After a long pre-season the Aces are more than ready to get out on the park.

“The boys are getting to a point that they just want to get into it, so as a team we are keen to play some cricket and see where we are at,” Guptill-Bunce says.

The skipper is pleased to be opening the Aces campaign at the Basin despite the usual obstacles the ground presents.

“A couple of the boys know they’ll be chugging into a wind, potentially a strong wind! But it’s a pretty special place to play cricket, awesome venue so you get up for it no matter what,” he says.

While he’s been a regular at the top of the order, Guptill-Bunce isn’t taking his new position of responsibility lightly.

“It’s a pretty big honour to be the captain of a First-Class team, something special, I’m looking forward to getting into it and leading the boys.”

The Aces take on the Firebirds, Monday 23 October, first ball 11am.

Auckland Aces

Michael Guptill-Bunce (c)
Michael Barry
Craig Cachopa
Mark Chapman
Lockie Ferguson
Donovan Grobbelaar
Ben Horne
Matt McEwan
Tarun Nethula
Robbie O’Donnell
Jeet Raval
Raja Sandhu

ends

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