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Mitchell Santner’s return to the Black Caps test team could allow coach Gary Stead to select four front-line closers for the first test against the West Indies in Hamilton next week.
Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner were involved the last time the Black Caps played a test, a win over India in March, but it looked like one of them was going to have to give way.
Stead had said it would be “unusual” not to include a spinner in Game XI before selecting left goalkeeper Ajaz Patel as the only option on the original 13-man team for the two-event series: an all-time bowler who has batted no higher than No. 10 in his eight tests so far.
While Jamieson has set out to become an all-rounder and scored 44 and 49 against India in his first two Tests, as well as taking 4-39 and 5-45, it would be a risky move to set him up at No. 7 at this stage in his career.
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Tim Southee has scored a first-class century and would have been the other option to hit that high in an XI that includes four closers and Patel, though that would have been risky, too.
Then came Wednesday and confirmation that Patel and Colin de Grandhomme, the Black Caps’ regular No.7 test, would be out of shape for next Thursday, when the first test begins, as they recover from calf injuries and the foot respectively.
Daryl Mitchell was hired as a similar replacement for de Grandhomme, fresh off a strong start in the Plunket Shield with his new team, Canterbury, where he has made a century and took the first five-wicket bag of his career. .
Santner was hired by Patel, who will still train with the team in Hamilton in order to be fit for the second test in Wellington the following week.
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Spark Sport’s new cricket commentator Sonia Gray
But while he’s just as much a spinner, Santner offers much more than Patel with the bat. He scored a century from No. 8 at Bay Oval last November, has a test average of 26 and could easily rank at No. 7 in Mitchell’s place, opening the door for a four-point attack.
Stead said Santner’s “little else” with the bat had put him in front of supporting player Will Somerville, who got the nod ahead of him in Sydney earlier in the year, and acknowledged that he “could” hit at No. 7. if necessary.
That leaves coach and captain Kane Williamson with three options as they consider the bottom half of their XI up for grabs: Santner and the four locks; Mitchell and the four seamers, but without roulette; or Mitchell, Santner and three of the four seamers – where they previously had realistically two – from Grandhomme and the four seamers, but no spinner, or from Grandhomme, three of the four seamers and Patel.
Gareth Copley / Getty Images
Daryl Mitchell scored 73 against England in the test debut at Hamilton last season.
Looking ahead, beyond the three Twenty20 internationals in store on Friday, in Auckland, and on Sunday and Monday, at Mount Maunganui, Stead said it would come down to conditions on offer at Seddon Park.
“When we select our team of 13, it is [about] making sure we have all the options covered and, and you have flagged one.
“That is what we will weigh when we look at the field and look at the conditions and find out which we think is the best team to win the test match. The same thing happened with India earlier this year. [that pitch] and we said we weren’t convinced to turn [would] play a role, so we don’t play roulette there.
Stead said they were targeting the Boxing Day test against Pakistan at Mount Maunganui for Grandhomme’s return, although if he made good ground, he could appear in the T20 series that begins on December 18.
Squads of Black Caps to face the West Indies
Test: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult, Will Young.
Twenty20: 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. I only play three: Doug Bracewell, Scott Kuggeleijn and Mark Chapman replace Southee, Jamieson and Taylor, with Santner as captain.
