Bradley Thomas James Wheal (born 28 August 1996) is a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who plays for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and has been called up to represent

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He is a right-handed fast medium bowler who bats right-handed. He made his

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

debut for Scotland against the

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship on 26 January 2016. He made his

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

debut for Scotland against Hong Kong on 30 January 2016.

Early life

Wheal was born in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa, on 28 August 1996 to a Scottish mother. He attended Clifton School in Durban, where he matriculated in December 2014. He began his cricketing career with the Kwazulu-Natal youth teams, where he played up to under-19 level. He also represented the province in youth

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

. While playing under-19 cricket, he was spotted by

coach

Dale Benkenstein Dale Martin Benkenstein (born 9 June 1974) is a former South African cricketer who was an all-rounder. He is currently first-team coach at Gloucestershire, having previously held the same role at Hampshire. Early life Benkenstein was born in S ...

, who is also an assistant coach with the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

in Durban.

Domestic career

Wheal impressed Benkestein and was offered a development contract with Hampshire for the 2015 season due to a shortage of

fast bowlers Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling (cricket), bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', ...

at the county, with only Chris Wood and Tom Barber as available backups to the first team side. Wheal impressed greatly in pre-season, performing well in games on the tour of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

and in a friendly against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. A strong performance then against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

2nd XI for Hampshire's 2nd XI where he took 10 wickets in the match and earned himself a call up to the first team for the match against Middlesex on 17 May 2015. Hampshire batted first in this match where Wheal batted at number 10 finishing 3

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

. In Middlesex's 1st innings Wheal took the wicket of opener

Sam Robson Sam David Robson (born 1 July 1989) is an Australian-born English cricketer who plays for Middlesex County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional legbreak bowler. Born to an Australian father and English mother, Robson play ...

for 10 runs by

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

him out. He finished with figures of 1/97 from his 20 overs as Middlesex where bowled out for 362. The match, which was rain affected, would end in a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

. In April 2022, he was bought by the London Spirit for the 2022 season of The Hundred.

International career

Wheal holds a British passport through his parentage. After joining Hampshire, he expressed an interest in representing

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

upon fulfilling the residential qualifications. Wheal is qualified to represent

through his mother. In August 2015 he played for a Scotland XI against MCC at

Titwood Titwood is a cricket ground in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the home of the Clydesdale Cricket Club and is one of four international grounds in Scotland approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as a home venue f ...

, Glasgow, taking seven wickets. He was subsequently fast-tracked to selection for the full Scotland team, and in December 2015 was named in the squad for the tour of Hong Kong, that took place the following month. In September 2021, Wheal was named in Scotland's provisional squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheal, Brad 1996 births Living people Scottish cricketers Scotland One Day International cricketers Scotland Twenty20 International cricketers South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Hampshire cricketers Cricketers from Durban Naturalised citizens of New Zealand London Spirit cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Warwickshire cricketers