New Trident Sims primed for BPL debut
Just one player will be making their debut at next month’s BPL17 and the honour has been bestowed upon Tasmanian Michael Sims who will don the yellow, green and red for the Tridents in Moama come February 20.
The 26-year-old replaces one of the franchise’s foundation players in Mark Nitz to team up with two-time BPL All Star Rebecca Van Asch and Taelyn Male on the Murray.
It will mark a new challenge in Sims’ career, as playing under lights in amidst a television production is not something a bowler goes through most times that they step onto the green.
“I’d say it’s a bit daunting in some ways because you hear people talking about the bowlers they see on TV and now I’m going to be one of those,” Sims said.
“Now they could be talking about me which makes it daunting but I’ve played a fair few games on a live stream so there’s a small element that I’ve experienced already.
“But having the eyes of the wider bowls community on me will be a new experience and hopefully it doesn’t play too many tricks on me on the green, but time will tell.”
The Trevallyn Bowling Club exponent relishes any opportunity to represent his state on the grand scale and the BPL has become one of the pinnacle events to do so since the Tridents made their debut almost a year ago on the Murray.
“It’s hard to out into words I guess, I always love pulling on the Tassie colours whenever I get the opportunity to do so,” he said.
“It’s something that many aspire to do, and to be able to do it now at the BPL is quite exciting.
“I’m very much looking forward to it and nervous at the same time but hopefully the nerves disappear once I pull the boots on for the first game.”
Sims’ family is just as excited for him to front up in the marquee tournament, with his father already booking his ticket to witness his son’s exploits, while the rest of his excited relatives and friends will take in the action from their televisions.
“Dad found out when it was all announced publicly and it was only a matter of moments before he had booked flights and accomodation so he’s going to be on his way up to watch it in person,” he said.
“He’s pretty excited and so is mum, she’s over the moon but she’ll take comfort at home on the couch and watch me from there instead.”
BPL17 is scheduled for February 20-24, 2023, with 24 hours of live broadcast on Fox Sports, Kayo and Sky Sports NZ across Tuesday to Friday evenings from 4pm-10pm AEDT, 3pm-9pm AEST.
