The sold-out T20 Black Clash at the Hagley Oval this year. Photo / Photosport
The sold-out T20 Black Clash at the Hagley Oval this year. Photo / Photosport
Tickets for the upcoming T20 Black Clash are on track to sell out at record speed.
The match, to be held at Mount Maunganui’s Bay Oval on January 20, will feature four players from Tauranga.
The latest local additions are Jason Spice playing for Team Rugby,and Gareth Hopkins for Team Cricket.
Spice and Hopkins join Tauranga-born All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, who was announced as Team Rugby’s manager, as well as Tauranga-based former New Zealand cricketer Colin de Grandhomme, who had already been announced for Team Cricket.
Spice is a jack of all trades: a former Northern Districts Cricket rep, as well as a former Hurricanes and Blues halfback.
“I think many have been surprised at how well the rugby guys can hustle on the cricket pitch,” she said, with Kieran Read alone this year scoring over 80 runs, taking three wickets, two catches and being instrumental in a run-out.
Local men Chris High and Evan Gray would be the scorer and the third umpire on the national stage, respectfully.
Rugby league legend Johnathan Thurston has joined the playing roster for the Black Clash at Bay Oval.
The first five matches of the annual series came down to the last over, with Team Cricket edging the series 3-2. The Black Clash annually attracts more than one million accumulated viewers on TVNZ 1 and sells out every year.
