Thursday, 7 September 2006

Ben on...Champions Trophy squad

The squad for the Champions Trophy has been announced:

Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Brendon McCullum, Hamish Marshall, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.

The news is so new that the list as it appeared on the Black Caps site was full of typos.

Styris is currently injured, but should be back in time – it's over a month away after all. Michael Mason wasn't selected due to injury.

The big surprise is Mark Gillespie, who I hadn't even heard of as a possible selection until yesterday.

It's great to have a nearly full strength side with an exciting new face, and with some of the guys showing great form in England. Pity it's just the Champions Trophy.

1 comment:

Mike said...

I reckon Gillespie looks a good bowler. I have seen him at domestic level and remember being surprised at how much faster he looked than the other bowlers on display (notably James Franklin) and that he got good bounce. Others indicate he hasn't got the pace of someone like Bond or Butler, but I suspect he will still hurry a few people up at international level.