Blackcaps In UAE: Corey Anderson and Glenn Phillips In T20 Squad
Two vacant Blackcaps T20 squad spots have been filled with Corey Anderson and Glenn Phillips being promoted from the Aotearoa 'A' squad. There has also been a wee wicket-keeping roster shuffle, with Central Districts Stags keeper Dane Cleaver joining the A squad as cover for an injured Tom Blundell.
Martin Guptill's also injured, again and won't partake in the United Arab Emirates tour. No replacement has been named for Guptill in the T20 squad, meaning that the Blackcaps will stick to 13 players; no dramas considering all of Aotearoa's best cricketers are in UAE. Keep in mind that this is all for the T20 squad and once the A's one-day series against Pakistan is wrapped up, then we'll have an update to the Blackcaps ODI squad.
As Phillips scored the most runs for the A's, his inclusion is fairly straight forward and the absence of Guptill only strengthens Phillips' case for selection. Colin Munro is going to open and Phillips could get a decent crack at partnering Munro at the top of the order, especially given that the only other opening option in the T20 squad is Kane Williamson. Maybe you could chuck Tim Seifert in their as an option as well, in order; Munro, Phillips, Seifert, Williamson.
Phillips was the only player from either team to pass 50 runs twice, in the three T20 games played over the past week and with an ODI spot up for grabs, Phillips will now be eager to perform in the remaining 50-over games for the A team; Phillips got a duck in the first one-dayer.
Anderson's got a slightly different buzz around him as it's less about Anderson trying to break into the Blackcaps and more about proving his fitness. In his recent comebacks from injury, Anderson has understandably enjoyed a fairly cruisey ride back into the Blackcaps in the sense that he's just got to play games of cricket, not necessarily pile up the runs and wickets.
That's because Anderson's a cricketing monster. We only need to look at the T20 series vs Pakistan 'A' to see that he wasn't overly dominant with the bat, scoring 38 runs @ 12.66avg/126.66sr in 3inns and he managed 1w @ 7.75rpo in 4 overs. Anderson had a strong T20 Blast in England though as he scored 514 runs @ 42.83avg/169.07sr, although my gut feels is that as long as Anderson played plenty of games, then played in the A series, he would have always been selected.
Now we wait to see if Anderson can chip in again at international level. There is the ODI squad to be named and Anderson will be a likely candidate to be added to that. Anderson scored 38 in the first one-dayer for the A's and was solid with the ball via 2w @ 4rp in 8.3ov, the type of all-round performances that form the foundation of Anderson's game.
The second one-dayer for the A gang is tonight, so I'll be back tomorrow with a wrap up of that and there is also the start of Ford Trophy to suss out.
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Peace and love 27.