Curtley Slatter
He might be built like a fast bowler and even named after one, but it is with bat in hand Curtly Slatter will look to make an impression this season.
The 18-year-old from Oxford stands at 6ft 2in tall (1.8m) and was named after former West Indian speedster Curtly Ambrose, but does not bowl at all.
He will be a regular fixture in Temuka’s top order when the season gets under way next Saturday.
Slatter has played for the top men’s club side Great and Little Tew since he was 13 and is a team-mate of Matt Woods who came out to play for Temuka last season.
He said people were often curious about his first name, but he was keen to show his aggressive batting style.
His parents live on a property they names “Boundary Edge”, with Slatter’s father once playing for the same senior side he now does.
“Both my parents are cricket fanatics so I grew up with it.”
He said he always wanted to play cricket overseas and thanks to the endorsement from Woods, he felt the time was right to have a summer abroad.
“He [Woods] said the level of cricket was just as good as at is at home and the Hawke Cup was even better.”
Slatter said he admired the aggressive way English batsman Kevin Pieterson played the game, particularly with bat in hand.
He said he was also keen to get on with things at the crease but did not have a preference between the short and long forms of the game.
Slatter said his aim would be to force his way in to the South Canterbury side for the Hawke Cup campaign but in the short term he was looking forward to meeting his Temuka team-mates for the first time at tomorrow’s training session.