BLACKCAPS Hosting Sri Lanka - Squad
Silky Santner
And just like that the tour of Australia is in the past and the BLACKCAPS return to Aotearoa to host Sri Lanka. I'll tell you all you need to know about Sri Lanka soon but right now we have a Test squad to examine...
The BLACKCAPS Test squad for the two Tests against Sri Lanka is understandably similar to the group that toured Australia. Matt Henry is the notable omission while Mitchell McClenaghan has also been left out after spending time in Australia and Neil Wagner retains his place in the squad despite not featuring in Australia. As this is a home series, there's no need to carry Luke Ronchi and Hamish Rutherford who offered depth away from home in case of an emergency.
Henry's omission is interesting as it now appears that he has fallen behind both Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner. Leading into the first Test against Australia, the third-seamer battle between Bracewell and Henry was a bit of a toss-up, now Bracewell looks to be a key member of the swing and seam trio also including Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
Everything coming out of the BLACKCAPS set up regarding Wagner centres on the return of his ability to swing the ball. We aren't really privy to this as we didn't get to see Wagner bowling over after over in the nets during the Australian tour (of which he did plenty), but apparently he's got some swing back and for the BLACKCAPS to have a left-armer who can exceed 140km/h and swing the ball is a luxury ... especially if Wagner can get that good ol' reverse swing.
This sets up the possibility of Mike Hesson and Brendon McCullum rolling out a four-pronged seam attack (Southee, Boult, Bracewell and Wagner) with Mitchell Santner operating as the main spinner. Santner only played one Test in Australia yet his natural ability as a cricketer was clearly evident and his all-round game gives the BLACKCAPS a new dimension, especially in home conditions which tend to suit the seamers.
Keeping Mark Craig and Martin Guptill in the squad is fair enough. Craig deserves to still be in the mix after a mediocre Australian tour as many a spinner has ventured down under only to be made to look average, although my best team doesn't include Craig. Not with Santner offering nice flight, turn and bounce.
Dropping Guptill would have also been dramatic, both he and Tom Latham now have an opportunity to bat on home soil and play themselves into some form. A lean series from Latham won't be the end of the world as he looks like a very solid long-term option, however if Guptill looks churn out these confusing innings' then he may end up as a limited overs specialist.
With Guptill, I think we all just want to see him play naturally. The way Guptill defends like his life depends on it is admirable and would be far more admirable if it eventually led to runs. Instead Guptill looks to have a cloudy mind about his role within this team and with Latham's style more suited to playing the anchor role, Guptill's gritty defence isn't really needed; play your strokes mate and have fun.
Despite a 2-0 series loss in Australia, there isn't really any need for drastic changes. A two Test series against Sri Lanka should however be used to gain further insight into the futures of a few players specifically which gives this little pre-Christmas series a funky twist to it.