Black Caps quick bowlers queue up
As many as 10 New Zealand fast bowlers could be seen in national colours this summer as coach Mike Hesson opens his Cricket World Cup audition process 18 months out.
Hesson confirmed last week all the Black Caps India tour squad injury or health permitting - would be available for Wednesday’s fourth round of Plunket Shield, where quicks Lockie Ferguson (19 wickets at 17.57), Logan van Beek (18 wickets at 14.44) and Hamish Bennett (17 wickets at 12.11) head the bowling charts.
It means pace frontliners Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Matt Henry and Adam Milne - if he’s recovered from his bout of illness in India will return, with bottom-placed Northern Districts (Boult, Southee, Kane Williamson, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi) set to benefit most along with Canterbury (Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Todd Astle) and Auckland (Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Colin de Grandhomme, Glenn Phillips).
Boult, Southee and Neil Wagner appear locked in as the trio for the first test against West Indies in Wellington on December 1, but in limited overs cricket it’s wide open with the Black Caps set for 13 ODIS and 10 Twenty20 internationals against West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and England between December 20 and March 10.
‘‘They [frontline pace bowlers] will all get an opportunity to have a rest and freshen up and, more importantly, a good chance to look at some other guys with the World Cup in a year and a half [in the UK in mid-2019],’’ Hesson said on return last week.
‘‘We can’t just look at the same guys, we need to keep guys fresh and making sure when they get opportunities that they’re ready to go.’’
In the past year Ferguson, Bennett, Scott Kuggeleijn, Seth Rance and Ben Wheeler donned the black strip while Canterbury left-armer Ed Nuttall was picked for the Ireland tri-series before he was diagnosed with a back stress fracture. Injured duo Wheeler and Nuttall are yet to be sighted this season, while Doug Bracewell is back from a knee surgery layoff and not completely out of the frame either.
Ferguson was the headline act of the just-completed round when he defied a cracked bone on the end of his right thumb to bowl fast and furious in his match haul of 12-78 for Auckland against Otago.
He admitted to some aches and pains after three successive matches but pointed to a strong summer ahead with his aggression and pace; mixing short balls, yorkers and some inswing to cause batsmen headaches. Hesson was impressed from afar.
‘‘Lockie looked like he bowled quick. And he started to bowl quick at the end of the last game too [against Central Stags in Nelson]. With him, and Kuggeleijn bowling with some good pace, there are some nice options.’’
It’s easy to get carried away with speed but in the past 20 years only Shane Bond, Milne and Ferguson have nudged over 150kmh. Hesson values the extra pace and hostility, especially in the team’s attacking mindset in short bursts in white ball cricket, and saw enough in Kuggeleijn to be encouraged.
Kuggeleijn has 12 Plunket Shield wickets at 34.5 for Northern and also has batting ability at No 8 which interests Hesson, with the pace bowling allrounder slot still not nailed down by de Grandhomme. Netherlands T20 international van Beek, if he can score runs and continue his highly encouraging start with the ball, also enters the allrounder frame with Jimmy Neesham.
‘‘We said to James [Neesham] that he needed to go back and dominate domestic cricket and we’re only three rounds in. Postchristmas when we get into some one-day cricket James is one of those allrounders who is contracted and part of our thinking.
‘‘We know the allrounders have a pretty high attrition rate and we’re not just going to rock out one for the next couple of years.’’