Photo Credit: Canterbury Cricket
BLACKCAPS fans will get an early look into the future with three potential debutants included in the 13-player ODI squad to face Bangladesh.
Twenty-six-year-old Central Stags all-rounder Josh Clarkson and Canterbury seamer Will O’Rourke (22) have earned their maiden call ups, while Auckland Aces leg spinner Adi Ashok (21) has been selected in an ODI squad for the first time after making his T20I debut against the United Arab Emirates in August.
Ashok will feature in the squad for the second two matches, with the team’s premiere leg spinner Ish Sodhi included in the squad for game one, ahead of a planned break leading into a busy period of T20 international cricket.
The squad will be led by Tom Latham and features seven players from the group at the recent ICC Cricket World Cup in India, including breakout star Rachin Ravindra – who finished as the tournament’s fourth top run scorer with a New Zealand record-equalling 578 runs from ten innings.
All three potential new caps are former New Zealand Under19 representatives, with Josh Clarkson, Finn Allen, and Rachin Ravindra part of the 2016 alumni, and Ashok and O’Rourke from the 2020 tournament squad.
With several senior players either injured or resting after a busy winter, BLACKCAPS selector Sam Wells said the series against Bangladesh which starts next Sunday in Dunedin, represented a great opportunity to introduce some new faces to the One Day unit.
“After a very busy winter of touring it will be exciting to have the team back playing at home,” said Wells.
“The volume and intensity of the cricket over the winter this year means we need to strike a balance with workloads for players, particularly those that play multiple formats.
“That need for balance also creates opportunities and it’s great to be able to give some players their first call-ups.”
Wells said all three potential new caps had impressed with their work in domestic cricket and in the New Zealand A environment.
“Josh is someone who, while still only young, has played over 150 matches for the Stags, developing his skills with bat and ball to become a consistent contributor.
“Adi and Will are both still fresh to domestic cricket but have been impressive in their early efforts and stepped up well this year in the New Zealand A matches against Australia A.
“Both offer valuable skill-sets, Adi with impressive control as a young leg spinner, and Will with natural bounce and variation as a tall pace bowler.”
“As we’ve seen in the ongoing Test series and the ODI Series in September, Bangladesh is a quality international side and we know they will present a strong challenge on this return tour.”
With the Bangladesh Test players not due home until next week, the decision was made to rest Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips, and Devon Conway ahead of a full home season.
Michael Bracewell (Achilles), Matt Henry (hamstring), Lockie Ferguson (Achilles), James Neesham (ankle), Ben Lister (hamstring) and Henry Shipley (back) were not considered for selection due to injury, while Trent Boult made himself unavailable.
BLACKCAPS v Bangladesh ODIs
Tom Latham (c)
Adi Ashok* (games 2 & 3)
Finn Allen
Tom Blundell
Mark Chapman
Josh Clarkson*
Jacob Duffy
Kyle Jamieson
Adam Milne
Henry Nicholls
Will O’Rourke*
Rachin Ravindra
Ish Sodhi (game 1)
Will Young
*Potential ODI debut
BLACKCAPS head coach Gary Stead will be joined for the series by NZC high-performance network coaches Dean Brownlie as batting coach and Graeme Aldridge as bowling coach. BLACKCAPS selector Sam Wells will also join the squad for his first series since his appointment in September.
The squad will assemble in Dunedin on Thursday 14 December.
BLACKCAPS v Bangladesh ODI Series Schedule
Sunday 17 December, University of Otago Oval, Dunedin
Wednesday 20 December, Saxton Oval, Nelson
Saturday 23 December, McLean Park, Napier
