Consistency key in selection
Northern Brave put faith in proven red-ball players
Northern Districts Brave men’s coach Graeme Aldridge has named a 13-player squad, including Te Awamutu’s Kristian Clarke and Zak Gibson, for their opening game of the Ford Trophy campaign away at Colin Maiden Park against Auckland Aces today.
Left-arm spinner Tim Pringle has been included in the squad and is in line to make his white-ball debut for the side after playing in last week’s Plunket Shield match in Otago.
Explosive batter Katene Clarke is set to make his first appearance of the season if included in the final XI, and there is space for new recruit Scott Johnston, who is pushing for a white-ball debut.
Opener Jeet Raval will captain the side after Joe Carter picked up an injury in the last Plunket Shield game.
“The boys are really excited to play the white-ball format after a month of red-ball cricket. We had a great training session yesterday focusing on our different skill sets,” said Raval. “It’s mainly the same group of players that have been in the red-ball side, although you might see a few tweaks to our batting order. Confidence is really high after the win down in Otago.
“Tim Pringle had a great debut last week, watching him from slip it felt like he had been playing for five or six years already. He has a great skill set to perform at this level.
“We’ve an exciting run of games to play with two fixtures coming up in Whangārei at Cobham Oval and then another home game in Hamilton after that, so we’re excited to play in front of our home fans.”
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■ Northern Brave (M) XI: Jeet Raval (C) Katene Clarke Tim Seifert Bharat Popli
Henry Cooper Brett Hampton Scott Kuggeleijn Kristian Clarke Neil Wagner Tim Pringle Zak Gibson Freddy Walker Scott Johnston