Nathan Smith - the Vipers' advance party arrives in Guyana!

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This time we speak with new recruit Nathan Smith. The New Zealand fast bowling all-rounder has been drafted into the squad for the upcoming ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League following the withdrawal of fellow Black Caps player Kyle Jamieson, and he offers the Vipers a precious commodity – first-hand knowledge of conditions.

That’s because Nathan is part of the New Zealand One-Day International squad that’s currently in action in Guyana for a series against the West Indies, and so he’s experiencing the same conditions at Providence Stadium that the Vipers will come up against when the Global Super League gets underway.

Nathan comes into the Global Super League very much as a player on the rise in international cricket.

He has arrived in the Caribbean off the back of a player of the series performance for New Zealand in their three-Test series against England, taking 16 wickets and also contributing handy runs in the lower-middle order.

The GSL will be his first experience of franchise cricket, and during our chat he explains why that is, but he’s not short of T20 experience as, during the past two years, he’s appeared for first Worcestershire and then Surrey in the T20 Blast in England and Wales.

He talks us through those two stints in county cricket and also discusses that England Test series which saw him operate with wicketkeeper Tom Blundell up at the stumps, an unusual situation for a bowler of Nathan’s pace.

We discuss whether that approach, designed to keep batters in their crease and inhibit their movements, has any potential mileage in the GSL and we also discuss conditions in Guyana – the heat, the humidity, the dew factor and the potential for big crowds to be making lots of noise.

Nathan explains how he thinks the Vipers can come together quickly as a unit to give themselves the best opportunity to be successful and he also gives us his thoughts on the two other New Zealand players in the squad – Bevon Jacobs and Daryl Mitchell, with Daryl coming into the GSL off the back of a fantastic, match-winning hundred in the deciding Test of the series against England at Trent Bridge, when he took numerous blows to the body but refused to back down. That will be the sort of attitude the Vipers will need to show to give themselves the best chance of success at Providence Stadium in Guyana.

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