Michael Bracewell

A member of the Bracewell cricket dynasty, Michael made a late introduction to international cricket, at the age of 31, when he was handed his ODI cap in 2022, against Netherlands, more than ten years after he made his first-class and List A debuts. The innings that vaulted him to the front of the selection queue was a monstrous 141 off 65 balls, which took Wellington from a position of 43 for 5 to chasing down Central Districts' 227 with a ball remaining in a Super Smash T20 match in January that year.

Six months later he announced himself in white-ball international cricket with a similarly outrageous effort, smashing an unbeaten 127 off 82 balls from No. 7 - his maiden one-day hundred - as New Zealand hunted down 301 from 120 for 5 against Ireland in Dublin. Although he was a wicketkeeper-batter early in his domestic career, Bracewell adapted to being more of an offspin-bowling allrounder role for New Zealand, even taking a hat-trick in his second T20I, against Ireland. He was picked for the 2022 T20 World Cup, but didn't make it to the XI.

Surprisingly, despite his big scores and the ability to hit straight, over cover and behind the wicket with ease, Bracewell wasn't picked up in the 2022 and 2023 IPL auctions. In January 2023, he showed the scouts what they had missed when he so nearly pulled off another incredible chase, this time in Hyderabad. Pursuing India's 350, New Zealand were 110 for 5 when Bracewell walked in in the 25th over. He hit 12 fours and ten sixes in his 78-ball 140, threatening to overshadow Shubman Gill's double-century from earlier in the match. When he was the last man out in the final over, New Zealand were only 13 runs short of the target.

He was called up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru as an injury replacement for the IPL that year, but couldn't make much of an impact in the four batting innings he got. Unluckily he also missed the ODI World Cup due to an Achilles injury.

He made his Test debut on New Zealand's 2022 tour of England, and came close to earning his side a series win in Pakistan, when he made a second-innings 74 not out and took four wickets in Karachi, but New Zealand couldn't take the final wicket and the series was drawn 0-0.

Bracewell played alongside his cousin Doug at the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, but spent the next decade plying his trade at domestic level. In the Plunket Shield of 2013-14 and the following one, he made over 700 runs apiece, and in 2020-21, he made 725 runs with four hundreds - one of them for New Zealand A. The following summer he was the leading run-scorer in the T20 Super Smash, with 478 runs in ten innings.