Wellington Firebirds opener Josh Brodie is upbeat about his own game and a change of fortunes for the team throughout the second half of the Plunket Shield, which resumes next week against the Auckland Aces.
Josh Brodie on the attack in a Plunket Shield match before Christmas
Not involved in the Firebirds’ HRV Cup Twenty 20 and One-Day competition campaigns over the past six weeks, Brodie is itching to get back onto the field and help lead the Firebirds to a strong finish in the Plunket Shield.
“As a team we’re all very fired up to win the Plunket Shield,” he says.“ Both the Twenty20 and One-Day campaigns were disappointing but from now until the end of the season it’s all about the four-day competition and we’ve been busy preparing for the first game against Auckland.
“Personally, I was pleased to have a good bat last Saturday and score a century [118] for my club side Eastern Suburbs. Now the time in the middle is ticked off everything feels good and I’m ready for the re-start of the Plunket Shield.”
Despite not being involved in Wellington’s limited overs set-up, Brodie has been busy training hard ahead of the rest of the summer where he hopes to further press his claims to make the BLACKCAPS in the future.
“I’ve been using the time to practice on my game and do some technical work with Cricket Wellington Elite Coach Christie van Dyk and John Wright and it’s been going really well.
“I’ve been flying down to Christchurch every so often to spend time with Wright. It’s been invaluable to be able to talk with him about the roles of opening the batting, Test match batting and the mental side of the game as well the technical.
“My dream is to play for New Zealand and if I keep working hard on my game and putting runs on the board then it may come true one day.
“My immediate goal is to make the New Zealand A tour to England next winter, play well on that and then see what happens.
“I want to be the next Test opener. That’s what I work hard on and that’s my dream.”
Brodie has had success against the English before, scoring a defining century (124) for the New Zealand's Emerging Players team against their English counterparts last season, batting against an England Lions attack featuring former and current test players Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett, Gareth Batty and Jonathan Trott.
This came soon after scoring his maiden ton for Wellington in a pre-Christmas first-class match against Northern Districts, after being left not out overnight on 99 and having to return the next morning to bring up his maiden three figure score.
It was another match against Northern Districts earlier this season that the Firebirds won in dramatic fashion by 38 runs on the last afternoon after earlier reeling at 33 for 5 in their second innings that he rates as another career highlight playing for Wellington.
“From a team perspective, that win rates as the best win I have ever been involved in and is something that I will remember forever.
“That’s what I want the team to do in the last five four-dayers coming up. If we can do that it will be a special achievement.”
The Plunket Shield resumes in Auckland from next Thursday, ahead of matches that follow against the Knights at home from 4-7 March, the Central Stags in Napier from 12-15 March, the Canterbury Wizards in Rangiora from 20-23 March and the Otago Volts from 29 March – 1 April at home.
The points table at the halfway mark of the Plunket Shield is:
Northern Knights 26, Canterbury Wizards 20, Otago Volts 18, Central Stags 16, Wellington Firebirds 16, Auckland Aces 0
Plunket Shield points are scored as follows:
Outright win – 8 points
Win but lost on first innings - 6 points
Win on first innings in lost or drawn match - 2