Maynard and Smith to make debuts

TWO players will make their Suffolk debuts in Sunday’s opening NCCA T20 opening group game against Cambridgeshire.

Opening bat Alex Maynard and Bury St Edmunds team-mate Mark Smith, who previously played for Cambridgeshire, have been selected for the fixture at Burwell & Exning CC, start 11am.

They are joined in the side by Halstead’s Josh Wells (pictured above), whose last appearance for Suffolk came back in May 2015.

With Ben Claydon having switched to Cambridgeshire, George Rhodes not engaged as a professional for this season’s T20 competition and Alex Oxley unavailable, Suffolk’s top-order will have a new-look.

The match will be new captain Josh Cantrell’s first in charge since succeeding Adam Mansfield, who is now head coach, as the county’s white-ball skipper.

Mansfield said: “It’s really exciting to have some new faces on board for the T20 campaign. They have all impressed us throughout the winter and deserve a chance at National Counties level.

“Josh (Wells) is a top-order batsman who has scored a lot of runs at club level. He has the ability to go through the gears quickly and is able to adapt to various situations, which in my opinion is vital in the shorter format.

“Alex is an exciting young cricketer, who has a fantastic skill set for T20 cricket and we hope he can be the difference in helping us achieve an above-par score.

“Mark has trained superbly well during the winter and can bowl at any point during the innings; we hope he can be the seam bowling wicket-taker we need.”

Mansfield said that the build up to the beginning of the T20 competition had been a great learning opportunity for both players and coaches alike.

He continued: “It has allowed us the chance to experiment with various ideas, given the coaches an opportunity to see every squad member, and enabled players to refine their T20 skills.

“I’ve been thoroughly impressed by the players’ openness to embracing fresh concepts, and I’m optimistic that our preparations have put us into a strong position for the start of the competition.

“It will be a tough start for us. Cambridgeshire are a good white-ball side and we’ll have to be at our best, however I’m sure the players will be right up for the challenge on Sunday. It’s the start of a new chapter for Suffolk cricket and I’m excited for it to get going.”

Suffolk squad: Ben Parker, Jack Beaumont, Darren Ironside, Josh Wells, Josh Cantrell (capt), Jacob Marston, Alex Maynard, Tom Harper, Freddie Heldreich, Dan Shanks, Mark Smith. 12th man:  Matt Clarke.

Tags: Adam Mansfield, Alex Maynard, Cambridgeshire CCC, Josh Wells, Mark Smith, NCCA T20

Categorised in: Suffolk CCC