Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor and Surrey County skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown will both play for the Hell Wellington Firebirds in this year’s HRV Cup Twenty20 competition.
The pair will join champion Sri Lankan spin ace Muttiah Muralidharan as the Hell Firebirds’ overseas players during the HRV Cup.
Taylor will play the full HRV Cup campaign, while Muralidharan will play the first five rounds, starting on 18 December against the Auckland Aces, and Hamilton-Brown will join the team for the remainder of the campaign.
Cricket Wellington Director of Cricket Robbie Kerr said he is delighted with the Firebirds’ overseas playing roster for this year’s HRV Cup.
“Murali’s record over a number of years speaks for itself,” Kerr explained. “He is the greatest Test and ODI wicket taker of all time and to have him in the Firebirds this summer is very exciting.
Kerr said that Taylor and Hamilton-Brown are both highly talented cricketers with big futures in the game:
“Having two captains join our squad will add hugely to the leadership within our team during the HRV Cup competition.
“Brendan is an extremely impressive young man and his recent form at international level has been outstanding. Wellington’s BLACKCAP players were all impressed with the qualities, both on and off the field, which Brendan displayed throughout their recent tour of Zimbabwe.
“Rory Hamilton-Brown comes highly regarded by English coach Andy Flower. For a player to captain his county at the age of 22 emphasises how highly he is thought of.
“His match winning innings in the English county 40-over final played at Lord’s recently showed what Rory is capable of on the big stage. He is an extremely ambitious young man who has strong aspirations to break into the England short format team in the near future.”
Twenty five-year old Brendan Taylor recently led from the front in Zimbabwe’s home series against the BLACKCAPS, scoring two One Day International centuries and a Test century.
In scoring 128 not out and 107 not out in the first two ODI’s, he became the first Zimbabwe batsman to score consecutive centuries in One-Day cricket. He then scored 75 to set up his team’s successful chase as they scored 329 to win. With 310 runs, he was the Player of the ODI Series. He also scored 50 and 117 in the one-off Test match.
In September Rory Hamilton-Brown starred for Surrey in the final of the English County 40-over competition against Somerset, scoring 78 off 62 balls.
This match winning innings was the culmination of a successful two seasons for Hamilton-Brown who at the start of 2010, then aged 22, had been selected as Surrey’s youngest ever captain.
In 2011 Hamilton-Brown captained Surrey to promotion from the second to the first division of the county championship. A former England U19 player, he is currently playing for the Mashonaland Eagles in Zimbabwe’s Twenty20 competition alongside Taylor and also recently played for England at the Hong Kong sixes tournament.
BRENDAN TAYLOR
Age: 25
Major teams: Zimbabwe, Mashonaland A, Mid West Rhinos, Zimbabwe Under-19s
Playing role: Wicketkeeper batsman
First-Class matches (including Tests): 68 matches. 4,719 runs, HS 217, average 39.99
One-Day matches (including 129 ODIS): 184 matches, 5,528 runs, HS 145*, average 33.30
Twenty20s (including 13 T20 internationals): 38 matches, 931 runs, HS 85*, strikerate 116.66
RORY HAMILTON-BROWN
Age: 24
Major teams: England Under-19s, Surrey, Sussex
Playing role: Right-hand bat, right-arm offbreak
First-Class matches: 41 matches, 2,945 runs, HS 171*, average 34.56
One-Day matches: 61 matches, 1,392 runs, HS 115, average 34.56
Twenty20s: 58 matches, 976 runs, HS 87*, strikerate 120.34
