Ferguson or Henry in for Southee
The pending birth of pace bowler Tim Southee’s first child has ruled him out of the first cricket test against the West Indies starting tomorrow at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
Coach Mike Hesson said Southee will sit out the match to be with his wife Brya Fahy, who is due to give birth any day.
“He will be staying home and we’re very supportive of that, obviously it is family first and that’s the priority,” Hesson said.
A decision on his replacement — eight-test Matt Henry or uncapped Lockie Ferguson — will be made today at training.
Fast-medium Henry has taken 22 wickets at an average of 48.5 while Ferguson is an exciting prospect with his pace. Ferguson also took seven wickets against the West Indies in a warm-up match.
Hesson said the decision would be tough as both players were performing well.
“It’s nice to have a couple of very good options — obviously Henry did very well in the last test match he played against South Africa and Lockie is probably bowling as well as he ever has. It just depends what we want to go with — whether we want to go with extra pace or whether we think it might nip around a bit and we want someone with Matt’s control,” Hesson said.
With Southee out, Central Districts’ George Worker has been brought into the squad for the first time and will provide batting cover.
The green-looking pitch at the Basin Reserve has excited the tourists, with senior paceman Kemar Roach saying the conditions reminded them of England, where they took confidence from their unexpected five-wicket win over England at Leeds earlier this year, despite losing the series 2-1.
“It gave us a greater sense of belief,” said Roach.
The tourists will likely have a fourpronged pace attack. Herald.