Wellington Firebirds Named for Super Smash Opener

Wellington Firebirds Named for Super Smash Opener

The Wellington Firebirds squad to play the Knights at Hamilton’s Seddon Park in their opening Burger King Super Smash game for the 2017-18 season has been named. Hamish Marshall once again captains the side which features English all-rounder Samit Patel and Tom Blundell, fresh off his impressive Test debut.

The Firebirds’ squad is:

Hamish Marshall (Captain)
Hamish Bennett
Tom Blundell
Michael Bracewell
Iain McPeake
Stephen Murdoch
Jeetan Patel
Samit Patel
Matt Taylor
Logan van Beek
Anurag Verma
Luke Woodcock

Having staged one of the comebacks of the sporting year in the last edition, the Firebirds are eager to build momentum early in this season’s Super Smash. After getting off the mark in their white ball season last week, coach Bruce Edgar has his team primed for T20,

“Playing white ball cricket in the lead up to the Super Smash has been great prep and has really whet our appetite for the campaign ahead.”

The Firebirds go in to the competition with the bulk of last season’s champion squad intact and will have former-BLACKCAPS’ wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi to call on at stages through the season. Michael Bracewell and Logan van Beek have already stamped their mark through their early-season performances while Samit Patel joins the squad after an impressive English summer.

Edgar is positive about the squad at his disposal, and welcomes Hamish Marshall back to the captaincy,

“It feels like the season’s only just begun and, yet, here we are, in to our third format. For us, that means we’ll see our third captain as Hamish Marshall takes the reins again. It’s really refreshing for the side to have Marshy take over and bring in a fresh perspective.

“Overall, we’ve prepared well, we’re excited, and we’re really looking forward to the competition ahead.”

The match against the Knights starts at 7:10pm on Friday 15 December and will be screened live on Sky Sport.

ENDS

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