Melbourne Stars batsman Ben Dunk to play Superslam
IT’S a recruiting slam dunk. Two-time Big Bash League leading run scorer Ben Dunk will be feature in the inaugural Superslam T20 tournament.
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IT’S a recruiting slam dunk.
Two-time Big Bash League leading run scorer Ben Dunk will be part of Camberwell Magpies squad for the inaugural Superslam.
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The Magpies’ Tasmanian connection helped seal Dunk’s signing and he will use the Twenty20 tournament to tune up for Melbourne Stars’ BBL campaign.
“A good friend of mine (Magpies captain) Andrew Fekete has recruited me to the Camberwell Magpies, so I am looking forward to, at some stage, donning their shirt,” Dunk said.
“Then it’s straight into Big Bash. I’m hitting the ball really well, I’m really looking forward to it and I have rediscovered a bit of a love for the game.”
The 31-year-old was named player of the BBL in 2013-14 when he hammered 395 runs for the Hobart Hurricanes and he is an experienced campaigner in the shortest format.
Dunk has played 82 T20 matches for an average of 23.6 and strike rate of 128.9.
The left-hander has been in sparkling form for Tasmanian club South Hobart Sandy Bay and was the leading run scorer in the Apple Isle after four rounds.
He had compiled 234 runs in two innings, opening the season with a knock of 167 from 149 balls in a one-day match against a Kingborough bowling attack led by Gurinder Sandhu.
“I have been able to spend a lot more time around my club, South Hobart Sandy Bay, and it has almost reignited my love for the game,” Dunk told the Free Hit BBL podcast.
”Sometimes I think when you are in the professional environment you take yourself and everything that is happening so seriously.
“Being around the boys and having a laugh has really ignited by love. It feels like I’m an 18-year-old kid just playing for fun again.”
The 18 Premier Cricket clubs will take part in the Superslam and Camberwell has been grouped with Fitzroy-Doncaster, Kingston Hawthorn, Casey South Melbourne, Dandenong, Ringwood, Frankston-Peninsula, Monash Tigers and Northcote in the Stars conference.
Other marquee signings include Craig Simmons (St Kilda), Nuwan Kulasakera (Casey South Melbourne), Beau Webster (Greenvale Kangaroos) and Suraj Randiv (Dandenong).
The Superslam is due to start in three weeks and the champion will progress to a national T20 carnival to be held in Adelaide in March.
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