Ferguson is waiting for opportunity AT A GLANCE
Lockie Ferguson could be for wondering what if.
The speedster was first called into the Black Caps test squad in November, 2017, with Tim Southee in doubt – and later unavailable – to play the West Indies in Wellington as he and his partner were expecting a child.
Matt Henry got the nod ahead of him in the end and he had to wait more than two years – and a total of 16 matches – before he made his debut, against Australia in Perth last December.
But when he finally got there, he lasted only 11 overs before he suffered a calf strain and had to leave the field.
While Ferguson flew back from Australia, his Auckland Aces team-mate Kyle Jamieson was headed in the other direction to replace him in the squad, earning his first callup.
Jamieson didn’t play in the two other tests on that tour, but when the Black Caps’ next series arrived – the two matches against India last month – he was picked ahead of Ferguson and Matt Henry.
When the late arrival of Neil Wagner’s first child meant he was unavailable, Jamieson made his debut at the Basin Reserve, taking 4-39 in the first innings, making 44 with the bat, and earning player of the match honours.
The following week, he went down to Hagley Oval in Christchurch, retained his place in the side, even as Wagner returned, and took 5-45 in the first innings before making a crucial 49 to earn forgiven
Australia v New Zealand, ODI, Sydney, March 13, 3.20pm (NZ time)
Australia v NZ, ODI, Sydney, March 15, 12.20pm
Australia v NZ, ODI, Hobart, March 20, 3.20pm
NZ v Australia, T20, Dunedin, March 24, 2pm
NZ v Australia, T20, Auckland, March 27, 7pm
NZ v Australia, T20, Christchurch, March 29, 2pm
player of the match honours once more.
With the Black Caps’ whites stowed away until they visit Bangladesh for two tests in August, Jamieson would appear to have passed Ferguson and Henry in the pecking order, offering something different with his height, and more batting ability to boot.
Trent Boult, Southee and Wagner remain the country’s first-choice trio, and in Bangladesh, where spin will play a major role, it might even be the case that only one or two of those three get the nod.
But a four-pronged seam attack worked in Christchurch and it won’t be a surprise if one is used when the West Indies (three tests) and Pakistan (two) visit next summer.
Ferguson is far from being out of the picture. He wasn’t thinking about the India tests when he spoke to Stuff the week before the squad was announced for them, focusing instead on playing Plunket Shield for the Aces and getting his bowling loads up after his calf injury.
Where Jamieson has his height as a point of difference, Ferguson has his speed, and that will make him an alluring prospect.
Just as it did back in 2017, when his career could have taken a different turn, had he got the nod.
The week before, he had taken 5-67 and 2-24 for New Zealand A against the West Indies, dismissing four of the tourists’ top five test batsmen – a couple of them twice.
Two weeks before that, he had taken 7-34 and 5-44 as the Aces ripped through the Otago Volts in the Plunket Shield.
He was in the form of the life, prompting a Stuff article that began: ‘‘It’s difficult to recall a more compelling case for test inclusion than Lockie Ferguson’s’’.
Instead, he had to wait. When he made the 15-man squad for the series against England and Australia last November, it was heralded as his first callup, as if 2017 never happened.
When Boult went down in the first test against England, he had to wait again, as Henry got the nod once again.
And now he seems set to have to wait some more.
But when asked how he’s felt over the past few weeks, watching Jamieson go from callup to debut in the space of two months, rather than two years, and his answer was simple.
‘‘I think it’s great.
‘‘I’m a huge believer in competition within a squad – I think it drives the team to be better.
‘I think it speaks to the depth we have in domestic cricket and that doesn’t get talked about as much as it should. Our depth in the domestic game in New Zealand is extremely good. We play on good tracks and it’s tough cricket and that’s now showing through in the Black Caps.
‘‘It’s fantastic when guys like Kyle, who I’m good mates with, get their debut, in ODIs and tests, and then they step up, which shows their mental capacity, more than anything.
‘‘Competition within a squad is only going to make the squad stronger.
‘‘Sure, it makes us who have played, go ‘gosh, I’ve got to work harder’, but surely that’s the best thing possible? If we’re all working harder trying to get better then going forward the team’s going to be better for it.’’