For clarity but it’s complicated
Colin de Grandhomme out until at least Boxing Day with a bruised bone in his right foot. But, amid 14 home T20s this season, by the time Australia arrive in February for their five-match series you’d expect some clarity.
The batting order provides the most head-scratchers, with de Grandhomme having largely batted No 4 and returned single figure scores in his last five T20
Black Caps Twenty20 squad vs West Indies: Tim Southee (c), Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert, Glenn Phillips, Devon Conway, Ross Taylor, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Hamish Bennett.
Game three only: Doug Bracewell, Scott Kuggeleijn and Mark Chapman replace Southee, Jamieson and Taylor.
Rested: Kane Williamson, Trent Boult.
Unavailable (injury): Colin de Grandhomme.
Others who played T20 internationals in last two years: Colin Munro, Tom Bruce, Hamish Rutherford, Henry Nicholls, Seth Rance, Blair Tickner, Todd Astle.
Schedule:
Tomorrow night: Game one at Eden Park, Auckland, 7pm
Sunday: Game two at Bay Oval, Tauranga, 2pm
Monday: Game three at Bay Oval, Tauranga, 7pm
three where he’s seen as Taylor’s backup at No 5.
Then there’s the question of where Williamson bats later on.
He was effective at No 4 for Sunrisers Hyderabad where he scored 317 runs at 45 and a strike rate of 134. In his last Black Caps T20 innings he blasted 95 off 48 balls against India at Hamilton, batting in his regular No 3 spot.
With a nod to the future, an XI of Seifert, Phillips, Conway, Williamson, Chapman, Mitchell, Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Jamieson, Lockie Ferguson and Boult would be an exciting one for this experimental phase – let’s say against Pakistan pre-Christmas – before big decisions are required.