Date of birth – 12 November 1985 Queensland, Australia
Nottinghamshire First Class Debut – 29 May 2011 v Worcestershire (a)
Riki Wessels is hoping for better fortunes this summer after enduring an injury-ravaged 2013. A succession of ailments, beginning in the opening championship match of the season, limited his number of appearances and prevented him from ever having a settled run in the side.
His disappointment was tangible, coming on the back of a fine individual season in 2012 where his career-best innings of 199 at Hove was amongst the most stylish ever scored by a Nottinghamshire player.
Not only did it help Notts to a rare victory on the south coast, it also confirmed the belief that the wicket-keeper/batsman has become a very useful addition to the Trent Bridge ranks.
Son of Kepler Wessels, the former Test batsman who appeared for both Australia and South Africa, Riki’s first spell in county cricket was with Northamptonshire where he played from 2005-2009.
His versatility as a top order batsman with the ability to back-up Chris Read with the gloves, if needed, obviously appealed to the Notts’ coaching staff when the opportunity came to sign him three years ago.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on Nottinghamshire’s YB40 win at Lord’s last September, he remains a powerful and stylish hitter in white ball cricket and will have a key role to play in all three formats if Nottinghamshire are to challenge for silverware in 2014.