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New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Monday confirmed that spinner Mitchell Santner has been retained within the squad for the upcoming two-match Test collection in opposition to Pakistan, starting December 26. New Zealand will push for a spot within the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) last which is about to be performed in June subsequent 12 months. The first task for the 13-player squad is the long-lasting Boxing Day Test which shall be hosted at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui for the primary time, earlier than the New Year’s Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on January 3.
Following a 2-Zero win over the West Indies this month and India earlier this 12 months, Kane Williamson’s males sit simply behind India on third spot within the WTC factors desk. A collection sweep in opposition to Pakistan and a heavy defeat for India in Australia would see New Zealand effectively positioned to return to the Lord’s for the ultimate.
Captain Kane Williamson returns to the facet after lacking the second Test in opposition to West Indies in Wellington to be together with his spouse Sarah forward of the beginning of their first baby. His inclusion means Devon Conway drops out of the squad with Will Young persevering with because the batting cowl. Daryl Mitchell stays because the pace-bowling all-rounder instead of Colin de Grandhomme who was final week dominated out of the collection with a stress-reaction to his proper ankle.
Fresh from his 50th Test, pacer Neil Wagner mentioned he could not look ahead to December 26. “It doesn’t get much bigger than a Boxing Day Test on your home ground. The community has really got behind Bay Oval and to see a bumper crowd there on Boxing Day will be pretty special as a local player. The Test team has played some really good cricket of late and to have an opportunity to push for a World Test Championship Final is truly exciting,” mentioned Wagner in an official NZC launch.
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead mentioned there was understandably loads of anticipation forward of the collection in opposition to Pakistan.
“There’s lots of interest – which is great for Test cricket in this country. We’ve got a very settled and experienced group of players who have done the job in our conditions for a long time – so I know they’ll just be focusing on the task at hand rather than worrying about too much down the line,” mentioned Stead.
“The toughest squad selection was clearly around the spinner. That basically came down to the balance of the side and with the four-strong pace attack going so nicely, we wanted to have a spinning all-rounder as an option for that number seven position,” he added.
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The Test squad will assemble in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday.
New Zealand Squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), and Will Young.
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