Aces shuffle the deck for Canterbury

Friday 16 March 2018
Aces shuffle the deck for Canterbury

A reshuffled Auckland Aces head down to Christchurch today as they prepare to take on Canterbury in Round Eight of the Plunket Shield at Mainpower Oval, Rangiora.

The Aces welcome back Lockie Ferguson, Michael Barry, Craig Cachopa and Aniket Parikh into their squad for the fixture and are still in the hunt for the Plunket Shield title.

“It’s been a long season for our bowlers and we need to ensure we are looking after the young guys like Jamie Brown and Ben Lister,” says Aces Coach Mark O’Donnell.

Ferguson rejoins the squad after a stint with the BLACKCAPS One-Day side in their series against England.

“As a Captain, it’s great to have someone like Lockie to use as an attacking weapon,” says Aces Skipper Michael Guptill-Bunce.

“He hurries up batsmen across the country and also helps our other quicks with tactics and ideas,” he says.

Aniket Parikh is also welcomed back by the Aces after an unlucky season with injury.

Parikh stormed back into club cricket with a bag of wickets including a hat-trick and a half century in the weekend for Grafton.

“We know Aniket is a talented cricketer and we will have to go and assess conditions down in Rangiora to see if we opt for his variety with the ball come Saturday,” says O’Donnell.

Sitting in third on the Plunket Shield ladder, a win for the Aces will keep them in the title hunt with leaders Wellington and Central facing off in this round.

“We’ve just got to focus on what’s ahead of us, not get too caught up in the ‘what ifs’ and make sure of a decent performance tomorrow,” says Guptill-Bunce.

The Aces take on Canterbury this Friday, first ball 10:30am.

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