The New Zealand Cricket Board on February 03 (Thursday) announced a 14-member senior men's squad for the two-match Test series against England at home. Right-arm lanky fast bowler Kyle Jamieson returned to the national set-up after recovering from a back injury he sustained last year while Kane Williamson was also named in the squad.
"Kyle is a very determined character with a strong desire to play international cricket for New Zealand," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said.
"Since he was forced from the field in Nottingham he’s been very clear that he wants to get his body right to return.
"He’s reported good progress since his return to professional cricket with Auckland and he will get the opportunity to play some long form cricket as part of the New Zealand XI Squad to face England in their warm-up match next week at Seddon Park," he added.
The Black Caps bowling unit brims with talent as captain Tim Southee will have the luxury to select a pace battery from a pool of Jamieson, Matt Henry, Neil Wagner and Blair Tickner. Michael Bracewell and Ish Sodhi, both of whom performed well in Pakistan, will once again lead the spin department.
"Ish really impressed us with his approach with bat and ball. He’s worked very hard on both in recent years and it was great to see that on the international Test stage," Stead said.
The first Test, which is going to be a Pink-ball Test, is scheduled to start on February 16 at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. The second Test will start on February 24 at Wellington’s Cello Basin Reserve.
New Zealand squad: Tim Southee (c), Michael Bracewell, Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Olly Stone
