USV Hercules secure Kiwi double-signing for their upcoming Hoofdklasse Campaign.
Ahead of the upcoming 2024 season, the club is delighted to announce the signing of Northern Districts ‘A’ seamer Nathan Parkes and former Wellington ‘A’ representative Thijs Turner.
Nathan, a promising pace bowling all-rounder from Northland will head to the Dutch side in fine form. A right arm opening bowler and handy middle order batsman, the youngster currently plays for Kamo Cricket Club. Also a key component of the Northland Men’s team, he recently completed his 6th season for the rep side.
He enjoyed a successful Fergus Hickey (Northern District’s 2-day minor association tournament) back in 2019/20, as the ‘Kiwi’ took 13 wickets at an average of 15. This included two 5-wicket hauls, and as a result Parkes was selected for the Northern Districts ‘A’ side.
Since then he has continued to dominate at club level, performing consistently for Northland with both bat and ball. A notable highlight being his match winning 52*, in which he guided Northland home chasing a large total against Counties Manuka.
Unfortunately, Parkes has had a couple of injury setbacks in recent years which caused him to miss the entire 2021/22 season as well as half of 2022/23. However, he finished last season playing for Northern Districts A across all formats, and has continued to push his case for higher honours moving forward.
He will be joined by Dutch Passport holder, Thijs Turner. An exciting young quick bowler from Wellington, Turner is also a right-arm seamer who bowls at good pace. The 21-year-old currently plays his cricket for Upper Hutt United in the Wellington Premier Mens Competition.
Originally selected in the Wellington U17 side, Thijs continued his development, eventually going on to play in the U19 team which was selected for National age-group tournament. Transitioning into Wellington Premier Men’s club cricket for Upper Hutt, impressive performances earned Thijs a call up to represent Wellington ‘A’ during the summer of 2021/22.
Since then Turner has continued to put in match winning performances for his club side, and remains hungry to push for higher honours. We look forward to seeing both Kiwi’s perform well during the upcoming 2024 summer.
