BLACKCAPS squads announced for West Indies tour

New Zealand Cricket today announced three 15-player squads for the Twenty20 International, One Day International and Test series against West Indies starting 30 June in Florida. 

Twenty20 International:

Ross Taylor (c) – Central Stags
Martin Guptill – Auckland Aces
Doug Bracewell – Central Stags
Dean Brownlie – Canterbury Wizards
Andrew Ellis – Canterbury Wizards
Daniel Flynn – Northern Knights
Ronnie Hira – Auckland Aces
Tom Latham – Canterbury Wizards
Nathan McCullum – Otago Volts
Kyle Mills – Auckland Aces
Rob Nicol – Canterbury Wizards
Jacob Oram – Central Stags
Tim Southee – Northern Knights
BJ Watling – Northern Knights
Kane Williamson – Northern Knights

One Day International:

Ross Taylor (c)  – Central Stags
Martin Guptill – Auckland Aces
Doug Bracewell – Central Stags
Dean Brownlie – Canterbury Wizards
Andrew Ellis – Canterbury Wizards
Daniel Flynn – Northern Knights
Tom Latham – Canterbury Wizards
Nathan McCullum – Otago Volts
Kyle Mills – Auckland Aces
Tarun Nethula – Central Stags
Rob Nicol – Canterbury Wizards
Jacob Oram – Central Stags
Tim Southee – Northern Knights
BJ Watling – Northern Knights
Kane Williamson – Northern Knights

Test:

Ross Taylor (c) – Central Stags
Trent Boult – Northern Knights
Doug Bracewell – Central Stags
Dean Brownlie – Canterbury Wizards
Neil Wagner – Otago Volts
Daniel Flynn – Northern Knights
Mark Gillespie – Wellington Firebirds
Martin Guptill – Auckland Aces
Chris Martin – Auckland Aces
Brendon McCullum – Otago Volts
Tarun Nethula – Central Stags
Kruger van Wyk – Central Stags
Daniel Vettori – Northern Knights
BJ Watling – Northern Knights
Kane Williamson – Northern Knights

National Selection Manager Kim Littlejohn said: “We have picked three strong squads for what will be a tough tour of the West Indies.  

“We asked Brendon McCullum to take a break during the short-form component of the tour.  The team is about to embark on a heavy programme of international cricket and we will need to sensibly manage the workload of our players.  This also allows other very talented cricketers to get an opportunity and for us to continue to build depth across our squads.  Going forward we are looking to identify opportunities for other players, such as Doug Bracewell, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson, to take a bit of time out and freshen up.

“James Franklin will also miss the tour.  We see James as a key part of our Twenty20 squad going forward and have worked with him to organise a stint playing for Essex in the County Twenty20 competition.  With the ICC World Tweny20 coming up we felt the best preparation for James would be to play a large number of Twenty20 matches in that competition rather than two matches in this tour.

“Tom Latham comes back into the short-form teams after showing a great deal of promise during his first series against Zimbabwe. This tour presents an opportunity for Tom to build on the good start he has made to his international career.

“Wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling has overcome his hip injury and has been included in all three squads as has Daniel Flynn who proved in the recent Test match against South Africa that he has the ability to make an impact at international level.

“Jacob Oram has recovered from his calf injury, adding experience and all-round skill to the Twenty20 and ODI sides.

“The Test squad sees the addition of Neil Wagner, an exciting fast bowler who recently qualified to play for the BLACKCAPS.  Neil has been an extremely good performer in the Plunket Shield for a number of seasons and deserves his opportunity.

“A number of players, including Colin de Grandhomme, Michael Bates and Andy McKay, are unlucky to miss out on selection but are still very much in our thinking for the future.”

The BLACKCAPS will play two Twenty20 Internationals, five ODIs and two Test matches during the five week tour.