The Wellington Firebirds will welcome back the express pace of young speedster Ben Sears when they take-on Canterbury in round two of the Plunket Shield starting tomorrow at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

The 22-year-old returns to the squad to replace Logan van Beek who picked up an injury in last week’s eight-wicket loss to Canterbury at the Basin Reserve.

Sears has made a strong start to his first-class career after debuting in the 2018-19 season – he made four appearances last year and picked up career-best figures of 6-43 against Auckland at the Basin Reserve.

Firebirds head coach Glenn Pocknall said he was excited to welcome Sears’ pace back in to the team.

“It’s always pleasing to bring a bowler back in to the team that possesses the pace that Ben has,” he said.

“He brings a lot of energy and passion to the bowling unit – he’s a bowler that likes to compete and that is key especially in the longer formats.

“It’s obviously disappointing for Logan picking up an injury, but to be able to replace him with a talented bowler like Ben shows the pace bowling depth we have here in Wellington.”

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

Wellington Firebirds squad | Plunket Shield | Round Two v Canterbury

Michael Bracewell (c)

Finn Allen

Hamish Bennett

Tom Blundell

Devon Conway

Andrew Fletcher

Jamie Gibson

Iain McPeake

Ollie Newton

Rachin Ravindra

Ben Sears

Peter Younghusband

Round Two Plunket Shield

Canterbury v Wellington Firebirds

10.30am | 28-31 October

Hagley Oval, Christchurch

Article added: Tuesday 27 October 2020