Thaindian News

Christchurch (New Zealand), May 4 (IANS/CMC) New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has announced three 15-man squads for the tour of West Indies, starting in June. It noted that it placed heavy emphasis on player workload management in light of the rigorous international schedule.

The tour, which runs from June 30 to Aug 6, includes two Tests, five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 matches, both of which will be played in Florida, United States.

National selection manager Kim Littlejohn Thursday said that in picking the squads, careful thought had gone into the workload of especially key players.

“We have picked three strong squads for what will be a tough tour of the West Indies,” Littlejohn said.

“We asked Brendon McCullum to take a break during the short-form component of the tour. The team is about to embark on a heavy programme of international cricket and we will need to sensibly manage the workload of our players.

“This also allows other very talented cricketers to get an opportunity and for us to continue to build depth across our squads.

“Going forward we are looking to identify opportunities for other players, such as Doug Bracewell, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson, to take a bit of time out and freshen up.”

The trio will play in all forms of the game on tour but all-rounder James Franklin has been left out of the tour as the NZC selectors look ahead to the Twenty20 World Cup in September in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old opener Tom Latham has been included for the limited overs series while wicketkeeper-batsman B.J. Watling and batsman Daniel Flynn have both got the nod for all three squads.

Uncapped South Africa-born left-arm seamer Neil Wagner has been included in the Test squad.

Experienced batsman Ross Taylor will lead all three squads.

The three squads:

Test: Ross Taylor (captain), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Neil Wagner, Daniel Flynn, Mark Gillespie, Martin Guptill, Chris Martin, Brendon McCullum, Tarun Nethula, Kruger van Wyk, Daniel Vettori, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson

ODI: Ross Taylor (captain), Martin Guptill, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Andrew Ellis, Daniel Flynn, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tarun Nethula, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson

Twenty20: Ross Taylor (captain), Martin Guptill, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Andrew Ellis, Daniel Flynn, Ronnie Hira, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.

–IANS/CMC
vs/mj