Wellington name well-rounded Shell Trophy squad

The selection of transplanted Auckland batsman Richard Jones and Academy graduate Jeetan Patel among a young bowling lineup are features of the Wellington Shell Trophy squad announced tonight by coach Vaughn Johnson.

Johnson used three days of matches against New South Wales to finalise the selection process which brought forth a 12-man squad to be captained by opening batsman Matthew Bell.

Jones, who moved from Auckland to Wellington this season, will open the batting with Bell and may have cemented his place in the Trophy squad with a bright innings of 40 against New South Wales on Wednesday.

The young off-spinner, Patel, similarly made his selection uncontestable with a bright and confident performance in that match. Wellington has not had a consistently strong spin contingent since the retirement of Evan Gray but Patel's youth, and the craft he has shown in his few representative outings, suggested he may fill a yawning vacancy for some time.

Former international Carl Bulfin will spearhead Wellington's pace attack with support from the accomplished youth international James Franklin and another newcomer, Mark Gillespie. Gillespie, who marked his first-class debut with a five wicket bag against Otago in the last game of last season, impressed with a grafting performance against New South Wales.

The squad is: Matthew Bell (captain), Richard Jones, Jason Wells, Roger Twose, Grant Donaldson, Chris Nevin, James Franklin, Mark Gillespie, Carl Bulfin, Mark Jefferson, Jeetan Patel, Matthew Walker.