New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced their 14-member squad for the three-ODI series at home against Harry Brook's England. 35-year-old Kane Williamson who has opted for casual contract has finally returned to the squad after recovering from a ‘minor medical issue’ which kept him out of the T20I series.
This will be Williamson's first appearance on the international stage since the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against India in Dubai. Along with the former captain, all-rounder Nathan Smith has returned after recovering from an abdominal injury he suffered during the first Test against Zimbabwe earlier this year.
"Kane and Nathan have had to work hard to overcome their respective injuries and illness," BlackCaps head coach Rob Walter said in a statement. "We all know what Kane means to the Blackcaps - to have his skill, experience and leadership back in the group is fantastic.
"Nathan's still relatively new to his international career, but he's impressed with his all-round skills and ability in the field."
Smith is excited to get back into the action. He is ready for the busy season ahead.
"Yeah, always exciting when you get the opportunity to play for New Zealand in any series," Smith said. "The last period from that [Bulawayo] Test to now has looked like a bit of rest initially. And then after a couple of weeks, you can sort of start to get moving again and strengthen the ab back-ups. Since the start of September, I've been ripping into some rehab and building the bowling loads back up. It's just been a really good period to get some strength in and build some training back up for a busy season."
Mitchell Santner has returned to the ODIs as well. He made his comeback in the ongoing T20I series against England after recovering from adnominal injury.
New Zealand's list of injured players
Players who were unavailable for selection due to their respective injuries are Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne, Will O'Rourke, Glenn Phillips and Ben Sears.
Busy season ahead for New Zealand
The ODI series will begin on October 26 at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui. After the ODI series against England, they will face West Indies next month and then head to India for limited-overs series.
New Zealand’s ODI squad
Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young.