New Zealand Test squad announced for the tour of England
New Zealand Test squad: New Zealand announced 20-member Test squad for the tour of England. New Zealand will play three tests against England as a part of the ICC World Test Championship schedule. Regular skipper Kane Williamson, who hasn’t played a Test since November 2021 due to elbow injury returns to the squad to lead the team.
The first Test will be played at Lord’s from June while the second third Tests are scheduled to be played at Trent Bridge and Headingley on June 10 and 23 respectively.
Batting all-rounder Michael Bracewell earned his maiden call-up to BlackCaps Test squad. Bracewell is a left-handed-batsman and right arm off-break bowler. The 31-year old played 3 ODIs for New Zealand previously. He has 5262 First Class runs to his name at an average of 33.20 with 11 centuries and 22 half-centuries in 96 matches. He picked 27 wickets with a best of 5/43 to his name.
In the 2020-21 and 2021-22 first class seasons, Bracewell recorded 725 and 190 runs respectively.
Meanwhile Cam Fletcher has been picked as the second wicket-keeper behind Tom Blundell in the squad. Of the 20 cricketers,Will Young and Colin de Grandhomme are currently playing county cricket in Englamd.
The squad will be subsequently trimmed to 15 players ahead of the first Test at Lord’s.
New Zealand Test Squad for the tour of England
Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Cameron Fletcher, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Will Young
“It’s going to be a busy winter, but one we’re looking to embrace as a group,” Gary Stead, New Zealand coach, said. “We’ve seen in recent times the need to be flexible with squads, schedules and staffing – and this winter will be no different. The red ball tour of England first up is clearly high on our priority list and we’re looking forward to hitting the ground running over there in a couple of weeks’ time.
“Touring England is always a special occasion with the people, the grounds and the history all making for a wonderful experience. The English are always tough in their own conditions and have many talented players they can call on. There’s a reason we’ve only ever won a couple of Test series over there and we know we’ll have to be at our very best to do it again. It’s an exciting time in particular for Michael and Cam, who will be heading away with the Blackcaps for the first time. They had a taste of the environment this summer and I’m sure they’ll be looking forward to the opportunity of touring with the side and all the extra things that entails.”
“All going to plan we will have everyone fit and available for the first Test at Lord’s, and aim to announce our final squad of 15 for that series once we’ve completed our warm-up games. Last season I thought we juggled our resources really well to ensure the welfare of our people was prioritised, and we’ll be looking to do that again with the white ball cricket in July and August. That means no players or staff will stay with the side for the entire 14 weeks while we’re away, as we balance the workloads. The ICC T20 World Cup in Australia is only six months away and we’ll continue to also prioritise as much planning and preparation for that as possible,” he noted.
As per reports, Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway who are playing in the IPL will miss the warm-up matches scheduled at Hove and Chelmsford on May 20 and 26 respectively.
