Injuries hinder Black Caps
Senior men Tim Southee and Martin Guptill won’t join their Black Caps team-mates in Plunket Shield this week as planned, as they battle niggly injuries ahead of next week’s departure for the United Arab Emirates.
Southee (knee) missed Northern Districts’ opening round win over Otago and, instead of turning out against Canterbury will play a 50-over match for ND A against their Auckland counterparts in Hamilton today.
The fact Southee is taking the field – albeit in a one-day match as opposed to a four-day firstclass fixture – suggests he is making reasonable progress after he was diagnosed with an irritation of the medial meniscus in his right knee.
Guptill, meanwhile, will undergo a scan on a suspected left calf strain today as Auckland host Central Stags at Eden Park’s Outer Oval.
His situation is less clear and, depending on what the scan reveals Guptill may be in a race to be fit for the first Twenty20 international against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on November 1 (NZT) – the Black Caps’ first match in nearly seven months.
If so his Auckland team-mate, Glenn Phillips, is in form to be considered as a replacement, after scoring 53 off 44 balls in New Zealand A’s seven-wicket T20 win over Pakistan A yesterday.
Southee’s and Guptill’s absences mean just eight Black Caps in the UAE tour squads will don the whites for their major associations from 10.30am today.
Test opener Jeet Raval will pad up for the Aces again after his invaluable knock of 102 in the draw against Wellington in round one. It ended a worrying run drought for Raval: in his previous 12 first-class innings stretching back to England’s tour last season the left-hander’s top score was 21.
The Stags gain fast bowler Adam Milne and lose senior batsman Ross Taylor who is resting this week ahead of next Wednesday’s departure to the UAE, having scored 75 against Canterbury in Nelson.
At Hagley Oval in Christchurch both sides will have three Black Caps: Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls and Matt Henry for the hosts, and Colin de Grandhomme, Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner for Northern Districts.
After shining with bat and ball in the win over Otago, Trent Boult will sit out this week as he and wife Gert await the arrival of their first child, which will see him miss the Black Caps’ three T20s against Pakistan. Boult is scheduled to return for the threematch ODI series.
Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson will also rest after scoring 83 at Mt Maunganui, along with BJ Watling who is bound for the UAE to join NZA for their one-day series starting on Sunday.
In the capital, Wellington lose allrounder Logan van Beek to NZA and gain promising fast bowler Ben Sears, while Otago bring the pace of Warren Barnes into their travelling squad.
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Black Caps tour squad members in round two of the Plunket Shield, starting today: Auckland: Jeet Raval Northern Districts: Colin de Grandhomme, Ish Sodhi, Neil Wagner Central Stags: Adam Milne Canterbury: Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls Schedule: Auckland v CD, Eden Park Outer Oval; Wellington v Otago, Basin Reserve; Canterbury v ND, Hagley Oval. Points after round one: CD 16, ND 16, Auckland 7, Wellington 6, Otago 4, Canterbury 3.