Wellington wicketkeeper Lauchie Johns will return to the Firebirds squad and take-on keeping duties for round three of the Plunket Shield against Otago which starts at the Basin Reserve tomorrow.

The Cricket Wellington pathway graduate will take the gloves from Firebirds batsman Tom Blundell who will continue his position at the top of the Firebirds batting order.

Johns has made seven first-class appearances for the Firebirds after making his debut against Central Districts in November 2017 and is included in tomorrow’s squad following a strong pre-season campaign where he notched 134 in the first of two inter-squad pre-season fixtures.

Firebirds head coach Glenn Pocknall said he was delighted to welcome another local Wellingtonian in to the Firebirds first-class line-up.

“Lauchie has had a really good pre-season and is a well-established keeper, so we’re looking forward to bringing him in for an important match,” he said.

“We’re excited to be back at the Basin after what was a challenging away trip last week and focused on getting back to winning ways.

“The guys have had a really strong week of training and we want to put in a strong performance against Otago, a team we have always fared well against, particularly at the Basin.”

Johns’ inclusion is the only change to an otherwise settled Firebirds line-up – allrounder Peter Younghusband drops out of the 12.

The Firebirds have lost only one of their last 10 Plunket Shield fixtures against the Otago Volts and have won four of their last five against the Southerners.

Play gets underway from 10.30am at the Basin Reserve tomorrow – spectator entry is free.

Wellington Firebirds squad | Plunket Shield | Round Three v Otago

Michael Bracewell (c)

Finn Allen

Hamish Bennett

Tom Blundell

Devon Conway

Andrew Fletcher

Jamie Gibson

Lauchie Johns

Iain McPeake

Ollie Newton

Rachin Ravindra

Ben Sears

Article added: Wednesday 04 November 2020