Cricket news: Luke Wright signs contract with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864 Firebirds of New Zealand
Luke Wright became the third English player to spend this winter playing for some domestic franchise after being dropped from the Ashes squad. The England all-rounder, following the footsteps of Kevin Pietersen and Ravi Bopara, has signed a deal with a New
Zealand franchise, Wellington Firebirds to play in the domestic T20 tournament of country which runs throughout the month of December.
Wright was not named in either of the Ashes series and the performance programme squads. Both the Ashes series and the performance programme will run alongside the full tour. Despite being axed from the earlier part of the England tour to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, the
30-year-old player is still anticipated to be part of the limited overs leg for the second part of the trip. Wright is also expected to be part of the squad that would fly to the sub continent earlier next year to participate in the 2011 ICC World Cup that
would be jointly hosted by India, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 – their fourth partner Pakistan was dropped from hosting rights in the wake of 2009 military attacks on the Sri Lankan team.
Luke Wright, who plays for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sussex-c852 County Cricket Club in the domestic circuit of England, is a prolific run-scorer at both domestic as well as international arena. He joined the national team of England in 2007 and played his One Day International debut
against India at the Oval on 5th September 2007. Before joining the national side, Wright represented England at Under-17 and Under-19 levels.
Being the top domestic T20 run-scorer of 2007 with a tally 346 runs that season, Wright was named in the 30-man provisional squad of England for the 2007 ICC T20 World Championship in July 2007 and was included in the final 15-man squad on August 6. Same
year injuries of first choice Andrew Flintoff and Ravi Bopara earned him a replacement call in the ODI squad for the final two fixtures against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. In his ODI debut at Oval, he scored a half-century on just 39 balls before he was run out only by a matter
of inches.
So far he has made 42 one-day international and 27 T20 appearances for England though he is not witnessed an enduring fixture and has been struggling for his place in the batting order. 42 ODIs have earned him a tally of more than
600 runs at an average of 21.42 with a highest of 52 and 15 wickets at a bowling average of 51.26. In the recently concluded one-day series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, which was won by England by 3-2, Wright played two matches, logging an unbeaten 48 in the third ODI
at The Oval and picking up key wicket of Kamran Akmal in the decider at the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rose-c86842 Bowl. In T20 internationals Wright has compiled 328 runs from 22 innings as a batting strike-rate exceeding 129.
Wright's stint with the Firebirds means the all-rounder will have limited-overs practice before the T20 and one-day series against the World Champs days ahead of the World Cup. "Having played many games against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 and touring
with England two years ago, I know firsthand the skill and toughness that Kiwis bring to the cricket field," Wright said. "I'm keen to test myself alongside and against the best in their domestic competition."
The Wellington coach, Anthony Stuart, lauded Wright’s inclusion into the squad. "I'm thrilled that Wellington has secured a player of Luke Wright's quality. He is exactly the type of player who will complement the skill set of our
players. We were looking for an exciting player who has the ability to win matches with both bat and ball, and Luke will perform this role extremely well."
Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen will be playing for the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins in the domestic season of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 this winter.
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