Bennett earns recall
Hamish Bennett will return to the Black Caps for their
Twenty20 series against India this month – almost three years after his last appearance for his country.
The Wellington Firebirds seamer has been included in a
14-strong squad for the fivematch series, which begins in Auckland next Friday.
He last played international cricket in May, 2017, when the Black Caps navigated a one-day tri-series with Bangladesh and Ireland without several regulars who were busy with Indian Premier League commitments.
Before that, his last appearance was in January, 2014, in an ODI against India. If selected in the playing XI, he will be making his Twenty20 international debut.
Bennett’s callup comes on the back of strong performances in the domestic Super Smash.
The Firebirds are set to host this year’s final at the Basin Reserve on Sunday and the
32-year-old played a big part in getting them there, taking 14 wickets at an average of 18.42, a strike rate of 15.64, and an economy rate of 7.06.
Bennett is joined in the pace bowling ranks by Tim Southee, Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn,
Strong domestic form for Wellington has earned fast bowler Hamish Bennett a Black Caps recall.
with Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi the spinners.
Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson are both recovering from injuries sustained on the recent test tour of Australia and were not considered.
Selector Gavin Larsen said Bennett’s callup was just reward for his form and perseverance.
‘‘We’re delighted to have Hamish back in the fold for what will be a huge series
against India,’’ Larsen said.
‘‘Over the past few seasons he’s consistently been one of the top domestic white-ball bowlers and we’ve been impressed how he’s been able to evolve his game.
‘‘We all know he brings good pace and bounce but it’s the clever variations he’s added that make him such a wellrounded T20 bowler.’’
Kane Williamson will captain the side, returning to the
Black Caps T20 squad: Kane Williamson (c), Hamish Bennett, Tom Bruce (matches 4-5) Colin de Grandhomme (matches 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner. India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur.
fold after sitting out the series against England in November while nursing a hip injury and being rested for the one before that against Sri Lanka.
His return is set to force a reshuffle of the batting order, as Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Tim Seifert, Colin de Grandhomme and Ross Taylor have been locked in to the top five positions in recent times. De Grandhomme will only be available for the first three matches of the series, with Tom Bruce replacing him for the final two.
Jimmy Neesham has not been selected after missing two recent Super Smash matches with a quad injury, and will play for New Zealand A in a one-day series against India A next week, with Daryl Mitchell chosen ahead of him.
MITCHELL CAPTAIN
Black Caps BJ Watling and Neil Wagner have been selected in the International Cricket Council’s test team of the year for the first time, it was announced yesterday.
Tom Latham has been included for the second year in a row, while Trent Boult and Kane Williamson have made the cut for the ICC’s ODI team of the year.
Watling’s standout achievement in 2019 was his double century against England at Mount Maunganui in November, which set the Black Caps up to win the test – and the series.
Wagner took 43 wickets at an average of
17.81 and a strike rate of 37.6 in 2019, his best return in any calendar year.
Latham made a strong start to the year on home soil, scoring 161 against Bangladesh in Hamilton, and also made 154 against Sri Lanka in Colombo and 105 against England in Hamilton. He finished 2019 having scored
601 runs in 12 innings at an average of 50.08. Williamson’s inclusion in the ODI team of
2019 comes after a year where he scored
948 runs in 20 innings at an average of 59.25, including two 100s and six 50s.
Boult took 38 wickets in 2019 – his most in any calendar year – at an average of 23.97 and a strike rate of 30.5.
The ICC teams of the year are selected by a group of prominent journalists, broadcasters and former players from around the world.
ICC Test Team of the Year (in batting order):
Mayank Agarwal (IND), Tom Latham (NZ), Marnus Labuschagne (AUS), Virat Kohli (captain) (IND), Steve Smith (AUS), Ben Stokes (ENG), BJ Watling (wicketkeeper) (NZ), Pat Cummins (AUS), Mitchell Starc (AUS), Neil Wagner (NZ), Nathan Lyon (AUS).
ICC ODI Team of the Year (in batting order):
Rohit Sharma (IND), Shai Hope (WIN), Virat Kohli (captain) (IND), Babar Azam (PAK), Kane Williamson (NZ), Ben Stokes (ENG), Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper) (ENG), Mitchell Starc (AUS), Trent Boult (NZ), Mohammed Shami (IND), Kuldeep Yadav (IND).