Date of birth – 12 November 1985 Queensland, Australia
Nottinghamshire First Class Debut – 29 May 2011 v Worcestershire (a)
After an injury-ravaged 2013, Riki Wessels enjoyed a massive 2014 topping the run charts in the LV=County Championship and the T20 competitions. Slotting in to the middle order in both formats, Wessels was at his explosive best bringing back the memories 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.
Boasting a strike rate of just under 150 in the shortest forman, his 470 runs including four half centuries ensured that T20 quarter final qualification was achieved.
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.