The Wellington Blaze will welcome back two of their superstars as they get their Dream11 Super Smash title defence underway against the Auckland Hearts at the Basin Reserve tomorrow.

Amelia Kerr and Maddy Green both return to make their first appearances of the summer for the Blaze after stints overseas with the Brisbane Heat in the women’s Big Bash.

Green will take on the captaincy duties for the Blaze for the Super Smash campaign as they look to make it four Twenty20 titles in a row.

“We’re delighted to welcome Melie and Maddy back into the squad,” said Blaze head coach Ivan Tissera.

“Both players are experienced internationals and are in T20 mode after their time over in Australia and it’s always great for the overall team morale bringing back players of their stature.

“They’ve been itching to get back into cricket after their time in isolation, so we’re looking forward to seeing how they go tomorrow.”

Last year’s Super Smash Player of the Year Sophie Devine and allrounder Leigh Kasperek are the notable absences from tomorrow’s squad.

Both players are still returning from stints in the women’s Big Bash and women’s IPL respectively. Kasperek will re-join the squad for the Blaze’s third match of the competition on New Year’s Day against the Northern Spirit in Tauranga and Devine will return for the Blaze’s second home match of the competition on January 9.

That means an opportunity for some of the Blaze’s young guns including promising batter Georgia Plimmer and seamer Natasha Codyre who could both make their Super Smash debuts tomorrow.

Last year’s leading wicket-taker Jess Kerr will lead the bowling attack while Jess McFadyen will take on the wicketkeeping duties as she looks to continue her strong form shown in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield.

The Wellington Firebirds will we be boosted by the return of two of their frontline seamers for the opening match of their Super Smash title defence.

Hamish Bennett and Logan van Beek both return to the Firebirds side after periods out with injury.

Bennett, who topped the Super Smash wicket-taking charts last summer, missed out on the BLACKCAPS T20 series against Pakistan due to the injury, while Van Beek has been nursing a shoulder injury picked up in the opening Plunket Shield match of the summer against Canterbury.

Firebirds head coach Glenn Pocknall said the return of the two seamers was a welcome boost to the side.

“It’s nice to be able to bring back two quality players with the unique skillset that they each possess,” he said.

“It’s been a slow start to the summer injury wise for all of them, so to be able to bring them back for such an important period of the summer, at the start of the Super Smash is pleasing.

“This is a really exciting time of the year with T20 cricket starting and people finishing work for Christmas and New Year so we’re really looking forward to seeing the Wellington community come down to the Basin to get behind us and the Blaze on Christmas Eve.”

BLACKCAPS Devon Conway and Jimmy Neesham are unavailable for the opening round of the competition due to their involvement in the third T20 against Pakistan last night.

Tom Blundell is also unavailable as he prepares for the start of the BLACKCAPS Test series against Pakistan on Boxing Day.

That means an opportunity for Troy Johnson who registered his maiden Firebirds List A century against the Auckland Aces last week, as well as Lauchie Johns who will take-on the wicketkeeping duties.

Last summer’s standout Super Smash bowler Ollie Newton is still unavailable due to a lumbar stress fracture.

Tomorrow’s match will be a celebration of cricket and Christmas as Cricket Wellington open the Basin Reserve gates and offer free entry as part of the Christmas Eve at the Basin initiative – play gets underway from 10.10am.

Wellington Blaze squad | Dream11 Super Smash | v Auckland Hearts
Maddy Green (c)
Rebecca Burns
Natasha Codyre
Xara Jetly
Amelia Kerr
Jess Kerr
Caitlin King
Jess McFadyen
Beth Molony
Thamsyn Newton
Georgia Plimmer
Maneka Singh
 

Wellington Firebirds squad | Dream11 Super Smash | v Auckland Aces
Michael Bracewell (c)
Finn Allen
Hamish Bennett
Fraser Colson
Jamie Gibson
Lauchie Johns
Troy Johnson
Iain McPeake
Rachin Ravindra
Michael Snedden
Logan van Beek
Peter Younghusband
 

Dream11 Super Smash presented by KFC
Christmas Eve at the Basin
Thursday 24 December 2020

Wellington Blaze v Auckland Hearts | 10.10am
Wellington Firebirds v Auckland Aces | 1.40pm
Basin Reserve, Wellington

Article added: Wednesday 23 December 2020