There will be no shortage of seam options for the Wellington Firebirds in their Plunket Shield season opener against the Otago Volts starting tomorrow.

The 12-strong squad includes no less than six front-line seamers in preparation for a Basin Reserve surface that is likely to provide plenty of pace and bounce.

That means regulars Hamish Bennett, Iain McPeake, Logan Van Beek and Ollie Newton are all included, while Wellington pathway graduate Ben Sears gets another opportunity having made his first-class debut last season.

BLACKCAPS allrounder Jimmy Neesham is also included following an eventful few months for the 29-year-old.

Neesham played a major role in the BLACKCAPS World Cup campaign and switches straight back into four-day mode having returned home last week from stints in the Canada GT20 and Caribbean Premier League T20 competitions.

The squad also boasts a local Wellington presence with Sears, Rachin Ravindra, Iain McPeake and BLACKCAPS wicketkeeper Tom Blundell included, as well as Fraser Colson who returns to first-class cricket after a spell away with Otago A.

Veteran off-spinner Jeetan Patel is unavailable for selection in the first three rounds of the competition having accepted a spin-bowling consultant role with England for their five match T20 series against the BLACKCAPS starting next month.

Firebirds head coach Glenn Pocknall said he was excited to get the new season underway after a promising pre-season.

“We’ve had the best possible preparation for the start of the season having trained on the Basin Reserve since September,” he said.

“We’ve had some really positive feedback from the players who have said that this is one of the best pre-seasons they’ve been a part of and that has given the players a lot of confidence leading in to the first match tomorrow.

“This is always an exciting time of the year heading in to the first match of the season and it’s a bonus that we’re starting on our home ground in conditions we are used to training and playing on.”

Lead fast bowler Hamish Bennett will have is eyes on wickets when he gets the ball in hand.

The 32-year-old, who begins his fourth season with the Firebirds tomorrow, is just five wickets away from bringing up 100 first-class wickets for Wellington.

Devon Conway is just 27 runs shy of 6,000 first-class runs.

Play gets underway at 10.30am tomorrow – spectator entry is free.

Wellington Firebirds squad | Plunket Shield | Round One

Michael Bracewell (Eastern Suburbs) (C)

Hamish Bennett (North City)

Tom Blundell (Karori)

Fraser Colson (Eastern Suburbs)

Devon Conway (VUWCC)

Iain McPeake (Hutt District)

Jimmy Neesham (Hutt District)

Ollie Newton (Upper Hutt)

Malcolm Nofal (VUWCC)

Rachin Ravindra (Hutt District)

Ben Sears (Hutt District)

Logan Van Beek (Taita)

Plunket Shield Round One

Wellington Firebirds v Otago Volts

Monday 21 Oct – Thursday 24 Oct

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Article added: Sunday 20 October 2019