Ben Sears

An out-and-out fast bowler who consistently hits speeds north of 140kph, Ben Sears can also generate extra bounce and get the ball to skid off the pitch. Glenn Pocknall, the former Wellington Firebirds coach who has also had a stint as New Zealand coach, first saw Sears bowl when he was 13, in a match for Hutt International Boys' School (HIBS), and was immediately impressed with his express pace.

Sears then suffered multiple injuries at age-group level but has now attained physical maturation and can bowl as fast as Lockie Ferguson or Adam Milne on his day. He earned his maiden-call-up to the New Zealand squad for the white-ball tours of Bangladesh and Pakistan in 2021. In 2024, he made his Test debut for New Zealand, against Australia, in Christchurch, where took a match haul of five wickets though he was expensive. In the same year, he won the four-day Plunket Shield title with Wellington and earned his maiden New Zealand central contract.

Sears comes from a cricketing family. His father, Michael, had a four-year first-class career with Wellington in the early 1990s, while his uncle Darren played lower-grade representative cricket.