Watling injury cloud hovers over Black Caps
D-day will arrive for New Zealand wicketkeeper BJ Watling late next week as he battles a hip injury which has him in doubt for the first cricket test against West Indies.
Watling’s ongoing problem, which ruled him out of the last two Plunket Shield rounds and will restrict his involvement for Northern Districts to batsman only today, saw an asterisk beside his name in a predictable first squad of the home season.
It leaves Wellington’s Tom Blundell, named to keep wicket for New Zealand A in the tour opener at Lincoln starting on November 25, in line for a potential test debut on his home ground if Watling doesn’t recover.
Selector Gavin Larsen said Watling, who averages 38 from 52 tests, would need to don the gloves for ND in Alexandra next Friday to prove his fitness for the first test at Wellington’s Basin Reserve on December 1.
‘‘He’s going well but he’s still a bit problematic with his hip. He’s been through the normal testing and is still feeling it just a bit,’’ Larsen said.
‘‘It’s precautionary at this stage; he’ll bat in this game [this week] and we’re very hopeful he can wear the gloves in the round five Plunket Shield game. He’ll need to keep, most importantly for his own peace of mind and confidence.’’
It gives Blundell an opportunity to further push his case against Canterbury this week and for a strong New Zealand A side in the three-day match.
Otherwise Larsen and coach Mike Hesson stuck solid with the team who performed well in the 1-0 series loss to South Africa in March, when rain stymied their victory push in Dunedin and Hamilton.
Allrounder Colin de Grandhomme retains his place, Mitchell Santner is the solitary spinner and pace trio Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner is reunited after the first two missed the third test with injury. Matt Henry also makes the 12 as the likely backup paceman, with another backup player to be added from the NZA squad.
‘‘In my time to date it’s probably been one of the more straightforward squads,’’ Larsen said.
There were more talking points in the NZA lineup to be captained by Martin Guptill, who will welcome Jason Holder’s West Indies squad with one of the quickest New Zealand pace attacks ever assembled.
Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson and Scott Kuggeleijn are three of the sharpest going around and will give the touring top order a stern introduction at Bert Sutcliffe Oval.
Ferguson snared 12-78 in Auckland’s win over Otago last week and heads the Plunket Shield wicket charts with 19, but will rest this week against Watling’s ND as he nurses a cracked right thumb.
Milne is one of the country’s top white-ball bowlers and Ferguson and Kuggeleijn also look certain to feature in the black strip, with 13 ODIS and 10 Twenty20 internationals scheduled between December 20 and March 10.
‘‘Those three have a lot to play for and it’s a long summer with a lot of white ball cricket,’’ Larsen said.
‘‘We’ve been looking at Milney for a long time and hoping we can push his red-ball game forward. He’s come off a good county stint [for Kent] where he showed the ability to bowl longer spells’’
Guptill and Colin Munro get their chances to push for test middle order spots, where Henry Nicholls is ensconced at No 5 after his stellar Basin century against South Africa.
All the test and NZA squad except Ferguson will turn out in a starstudded Plunket Shield round over the next four days.