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Black Caps goalkeeper BJ Watling is under a cloud of injuries before the first test (File photo).
Devon Conway is slowly approaching a test debut, but it will take more than just BJ Watling’s injury to get him off to a start against the West Indies at Hamilton as Will Young finally looks set for a breakthrough.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead revealed on Tuesday that his trusty wicketkeeper / hitter was in doubt for the first tryout at Seddon Park, starting Thursday, due to “mild hamstring discomfort” detected in the first round of the Ford Trophy on Sunday.
That has seen Conway, a questionable omission from the test team originally, and impressive performance in the Twenty20 series win, called as a cover.
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Devon Conway impressed with his first international cricket test during the T20I series.
Stead said they would likely make a call to Watling’s fitness on the eve of the game, although the indications in training Tuesday afternoon weren’t good for the 35-year-old. If it was actually ruled out, Stead said Tom Blundell will be given the gloves and the order will be shuffled in turn, probably to number 6.
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That would leave an opening spot available, though Stead confirmed it would be for fellow rookie Young, who had been cast ahead of Conway as the original hitting backup on the team.
Both players have been putting together strong cases to try to make their way into a largely resolute New Zealand lineup.
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Will Young has already had his eye on the West Indies attack ahead of a likely test debut.
Young, who averages 43.76 at the first-class level, has been the starting substitute for the past two seasons and was ready to play in last year’s test against Bangladesh in Christchurch in place of the injured captain Kane Williamson, before the game was held. canceled in the wake of the mosque shootings.
After scoring a century in his last Plunket Shield hit for the Central Districts, the 28-year-old right-hander was able to see well and was successful in the West Indies test attack in two games in Queenstown, scoring 27, 64 not out and 133.
Meanwhile, Conway boasts a first-class average of 47.54, has topped the Plunket Shield race charts in the past three seasons since arriving from South Africa, and the 29-year-old left-hander looked at ease on his T20I series debut. , hitting 41 and 65 not out.
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Phillips’ impressive 46-ball tonne helped the Black Caps to a 72-run victory over the West Indies.
He will be available for any other late-injury drama from a team that has already ruled out Colin de Grandhomme (series) and Ajaz Patel (first test).
Watling’s likely absence will be important, as he has become an enormously reliable figure behind the stumps and with the bat. He has a test average of 38.50, with 18 50 and eight hundred.
Blundell, however, has proven to be a more than capable backup. Ironically, it was almost three years ago to this day (Dec 1), against the same opposition, that he made his test debut in place of an injured Watling at the Basin Reserve and scored an undefeated 107 at No. 8 in a winning inning. . before also playing the second test in Hamilton.
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Tom Blundell scored a century in the Boxing Day test against Australia last year.
His next four tryouts have been as a specialty starter and included a memorable 100 at last year’s Boxing Day trial in Australia.
Meanwhile, in the bowling department, Stead has to weigh which of his original injury calls, Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner, to include in and around the impressive bowling quartet.
In New Zealand’s latest test, the series’ landslide win over India in Christchurch in February, they went without a top-of-the-line roulette wheel, but that was only the third time in the last 97 tests that they did.
Stead said it would depend on the field, which looked typically very green Tuesday, but it was unlikely they would go in without any modifiers.
Aaron Goile / Stuff
Hamilton’s Seddon Park course sported the traditional green look two days into the Black Caps v West Indies event.
“Seddon Park tends to change a little bit faster than other pitches can,” he said. “I haven’t talked to Kane [Williamson] on this yet, but I think it would be unusual not to play a spinner here in Hamilton. “
Despite the 2-0 win in the T20I series, Stead called the test series “a new beginning” and indeed both teams look very different, the Windies only have two of the same players in their game. group of 21 men and the Black Caps. with eight new faces.
Stead also confirmed that the plan would be another “split team” for the Pakistan T20I series, which comes three days after the last day of the second Windies test in Wellington.
That means the test players will miss the series opener on December 18 in Auckland, before being available for games two (December 20 at Hamilton) and three (December 22 at Napier).
