Brad Wheal Excited by Season Ahead After Hampshire Move

Mar 25 2015

Young South-African fast-bowler Brad Wheal has high hopes of impressing the Hampshire coaching staff after arriving at the Ageas Bowl on a one-year development contract.

Dale Benkenstein first noticed Wheal whilst playing in his home town of Durban, South Africa. And after impressing the Hampshire First-Team Coach, the 18-year old was offered the opportunity to show what he can do on English shores.

Wheal said: “I’m still very inexperienced, but I’m looking to improve all the time and I’m looking to learn a lot from Craig White and the other Hampshire coaches. I feel being an economical bowler is my strength at the moment – looking to build the pressure on the batsmen.

“I’m still new to the place but I’m here to prove myself and show everyone what I can do.”

Wheal, who holds a British passport and therefore doesn’t count as an overseas player, is hoping to play a key role for the Hampshire Second Team in 2015:

“I know I’m going to be playing a lot of Second Team cricket to start with and hopefully I can impress with them. I know it might not happen this year, but my ultimate goal is to break into the First Team and hopefully I will do that in the future.” 

The 18-year old joined the rest of the Hampshire squad on the pre-season and it enabled him to bond with his new team-mates:

“They are all really good lads and they looked after me well. It was a really nice environment throughout the trip and the guys were really welcoming. It’s great because I’m still new to England but I’m made lots of friends really quickly and they’ve made me feel really comfortable.”

The trip to Barbados was a fantastic opportunity for Wheal to learn from the experienced heads in the Hants squad and the young seamer has singled out Yasir Arafat as particularly helpful:

“I got to know Yasir after the first couple of days and he’s a really nice guy – he worked with me and a couple of the younger players a lot on our slower balls and it was really useful to hear his experience in the game and get his advice.”

Wheal will also feature for Havant Cricket Club during the 2015 season and he said he is looking forward to experiencing the Southern Electric Premier League:

“I don’t know too much about Havant or the league that we are playing in but I’m really looking forward to playing for them and meeting some new friends.”