ESSEX all-rounder Graham Napier is returning to New Zealand to spend the winter with the Wellington Firebirds.

The 28-year-old was drafted in by the Firebirds midway through the club’s 2007/08 domestic season and proved a hit Down Under.

Napier played five matches for Wellington last winter, giving a brief glimpse of the powerful hitting and nippy fast bowling that brought him to the cricketing world’s attention this summer.

In June, the Colchester-born player wrote his name into the sport’s history books by smashing a world record 16 sixes in a breathtaking innings of 152 not out off just 58 balls in a Twenty20 Cup win over Sussex at Chelmsford.

That sort of form helped Napier to win the Professional Cricketers’ Association MVP Award for 2008 and Essex to win the Friends Provident Trophy and NatWest Pro40 Division Two title as well as reach Twenty20 Cup Final Day.

And Cricket Wellington chief executive Gavin Larsen, a former New Zealand international bowler, is hoping to see more of the same when Napier arrives in the country next month.

“We are thrilled to have secured the services of a player of Graham’s ability who has established himself as a major talent." said Larsen.

The Essex star is contracted through to the end of the State Twenty20 Final on March 1, 2009.

As well as his commitments in one and four-day cricket with the Firebirds, he will also play club cricket in Wellington for Hutt Districts.

Head coach Anthony Stuart said "Graham’s involvement is a huge boost for the State Wellington Firebirds and a major drawcard for cricket fans in Wellington.

"He’s a dynamic all-rounder who proved in the recent English Twenty20 competition that he is a true match winner."

Among his team-mates at the Basin Reserve will be former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, big-hitting Kiwi batsman Jesse Ryder and Black Caps opener Matthew Bell.

Should the Firebirds win the State Twenty20 championship, Napier could find himself playing in next year’s lucrative Champions League, a prize he missed out on this summer when Essex were beaten by Kent in the semi-finals.

He will also hope to secure a contract for the multi-million pound Indian Premier League, whose second season runs between April 10 and May 29, 2009.

Should he do so, Napier would miss the start of the 2009 English domestic season with Essex.