Opening bowler Mark Cleary, from Victoria, Australia, will play for the Hell Wellington Firebirds in their next two HRV Cup Twenty20 matches, against the Central Stags in Nelson on Thursday and the Northern Knights at the Basin Reserve on Sunday.
Cleary will join England’s Luke Wright as the Hell Firebirds’ second overseas player for these two matches and replaces his Victorian teammate Damien Wright who played in the opening two matches against the Otago Volts and the Canterbury Wizards.
Cleary is an opening bowler and middle order batsman who switched from South Australia to Victoria at the start of this season after eight seasons playing his cricket in Adelaide, during which time he was selected for Australia A. He has also played in England for both Leicestershire and Yorkshire. 30-year old Cleary has played 51 First-Class games and over 90 combined One-Day and Twenty20 matches, and has captured 260 wickets and scored a First-Class century.
Hell Wellington Firebirds Head Coach Anthony Stuart says Cleary comes highly regarded:
“Mark Cleary comes to us with an excellent reputation in Australian domestic cricket, particularly in the short format of the game, and he will fulfill our requirement for a new ball bowler who will bowl with pace and aggression. He’s also a hard-hitting middle order batsman who strikes the ball cleanly.”
Hell Wellington Firebirds Assistant Coach Shane Deitz who kept wicket to Cleary in South Australia says he will be a big asset to the side for these two matches: “Cleary is an attacking opening bowler who bowls with plenty of heat and can hit a big ball.”
