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Yup, it's Gup! Aces legend set for Super Smash opener

Posted Wednesday, 25 December, 2024 in

Auckland Aces icon Martin Guptill is poised to play in the 2024/25 Dream11 Super Smash season opener in Hamilton tomorrow (Boxing Day), 19 summers after he first stepped out in the blue.

Auckland Cricket threw a Thank You, Gup testimonial day in this competition last January at Eden Park's Kennards Hire Community Oval, but fans of the tall, powerful hitter and gun fielder will be thrilled to hear the 38-year-old is back for more - "subject to fitness", is the word from Auckland Cricket - this time down the State Highway at Seddon Park where the defending champions begin their campaign away under lights against Northern Brave.

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Guptill brings an incredible 347 matches of T20 experience, and sits on 9,707 T20 career runs - with 72 of those games and 2,254 runs having been for his lifelong Domestic team, the Aces.

The men's game is the second item on the Boxing Day menu, following the Northern Brave women-Auckland Hearts game that gets the special T20 summer underway at 2.10PM.

WHITE FERN Maddy Green is back to lead the Hearts while former Central Hinds captain Jess Watkin will now captain the Brave women in this format for the first time.

Plenty of WHITE FERNS will be on display with Fran Jonas, Izzy Gaze, Brooke Halliday, Lauren Down and Molly Penfold all joining Green in a full-strength Hearts squad, while the Aces' contingent also includes IPL signing and BLACKCAP-in-waiting Bevon "BJ" Jacobs, the clean striker who was named in his first BLACKCAPS T20 squad earlier this week.

For Northern, the big news is the return of experienced batter Joe Carter after his recovery from knee surgery, along with potential Northern Brave men's debuts for exciting up-and-coming batter Fergus Lellman, Josh Brown and gloveman Ben Pomare - and they've got the bowling acumen of Neil Wagner, sitting on 95 T20 career wickets and fizzing for more.

Left-armer Ben Lister, allrounder Jock McKenzie and dangerous keeper-batter Cam Fletcher are all welcomed back from injury into the Aces squad.

Yazmeen Kareem (Northern Brave women) and Sid Dixit (Auckland Aces), both 25, will be waiting to see if they get their first go in the Dream11 Super Smash, ditto sharp allrounder Simon Keene whose injuries have delayed his own debut in this format, after impressing in the Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy over recent seasons.

See the full squads on Auckland Cricket and Northern Brave social media as the teams get set for the debut of their RETRO kit in a special holiday season opener!

Follow the matches live in NZ on TVNZ+ tomorrow with livescoring here at www.supersmash.co.nz or on the NZC app.

Merry Christmas!