WELLINGTON: New Zealand has named three front-line spinners in its 15-man cricket squad for the T20 World Cup in October and November.
Leg spinners Todd Astle and Ish Sodhi and left-arm Mitchell Santer will take the main spin bowling spots in the squad with support from part-timers Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman.
The T20 World Cup will be held from October 17 to November 14 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
It was originally scheduled for 2020 in Australia but was delayed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and originally moved to India. But in June it was shifted to the bordering Middle East countries due to a renewed outbreak of Covid-19 in India.
New Zealand’s pace attack will comprise Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson and Kyle Jamieson along with all-rounders Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham, whose selection comes at the expense of medium pace all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme and seamer Hamish Bennett.
Fast bowler Adam Milne will travel as the 16th man, providing injury cover.
The batting lineup is settled with Tim Seifert opening and keeping wicket and Martin Guptill, Devon Conway and captain Kyle Williamson taking the other top-order roles.
New Zealand also has named squads to play five T20s in Bangladesh in early September and T20 and one-day series in Pakistan later that month. In total, 32 players will be involved in the tours as New Zealand Cricket seeks to spread the workload, and the toll of travel and quarantine, on players and staff.
“The need to safeguard the well-being of our players and support staff is now very real and we’ve endeavoured to do this by carefully managing their workloads over this winter’s massive playing program,” NZC chief executive David White said Tuesday.
“I’m satisfied we’ve selected strong squads for all our touring commitments this winter.”
Williamson, Seifert, Boult, Jamieson, Neesham, Santner, Ferguson and Milne will be released to play in the Indian Premier League in late September and early October along with England-based Finn Allen, who has been named for the Bangladesh and Pakistan series.
“It’s a pragmatic approach,” White said. “We’ve always tried to be realistic about the IPL and this particular issue is very much a one-off, caused by a unique set of circumstances.”
New Zealand squads:
T20 World Cup and India T20s: Kane Williamson (captain), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee. (asterisk)Adam Milne will travel as injury cover.
Bangladesh T20s and Pakistan ODIs: Tom Latham (captain), Finn Allen, Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell, Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry (ODI only), Scott Kuggeleijn, Cole McConchie, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears (T20 only), Blair Tickner, Will Young.
Pakistan T20s: Tom Latham (captain), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell, Mark Chapman, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Ajaz Patel, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears, Blair Tickner, Will Young.
