2025 England Tour Of New Zealand: Five Blackcaps Things Between T20I & ODI Series
Across the six T20Is scheduled for Blackcaps over the past month there were only three results and all of them were losses for New Zealand. Losing in Aotearoa isn't a new wrinkle for Blackcaps as they have a bunch of Test losses in home conditions over the last few years and strong mahi overseas in the Champions Trophy, then the T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe has been balanced by a reality check in T20s vs Australia and England.
Next up is an ODI series against England starting on Sunday. Blackcaps are 11-3 in ODIs this year and along with being 9-5 in T20Is this year, they have winning records in the two limited overs formats. The only Tests played by Blackcaps this year were against Zimbabwe and they won both of them, without any major insights on offer aside from more integration of Aotearoa's best young cricketers.
Because the ODI series starts in a few days, below are five key pockets for Blackcaps in both T20Is and ODIs to serve as a bridge between the series vs England.
Mediocre Spin
Mitchell Santner (39.16) and Michael Bracewell (48.2) have the highest bowling averages for Blackcaps in T20Is this year. Of the squad who played against England, they are the only bowlers over 30avg this year and both are conceding more than 8rpo. Here is how Santner and Bracewell performed in the October T20s vs Australia and England...
Mitchell Santner: 8ov, 1w @ 61avg/7.6rpo
Michael Bracewell: 9ov, 2w @ 41avg/9.1rpo
Both are moving in the wrong direction as well. Santner had two years averaging below 20 in 2022 and 2023, then he bumped up to 27.6 last year and 39.1 this year. Bracewell started his T20I career with two years below 15avg and then he jumped up to 37avg last year, then his 48.2 this year.
Bracewell's stinky trend involves an increase from less than 6rpo in his first two years to 8.6rpo last year and 9.2rpo this year. Santner was below 7rpo in four consecutive years before conceding 8.1rpo this year. The best spinner in T20Is for Blackcaps this year is Ish Sodhi and he is one of three Blackcaps bowlers who have taken 10+ wickets with averages below 20 - but Sodhi was dropped prior to the England series.
This year in ODIs, Santner is second for wickets behind Matt Henry and averaging 25.5. Bracewell is also solid in ODI bowling this year on 31avg with both these spinners taking 15+ wickets while conceding 4.5rpo or less. Santner and Bracewell will be the main spinners in the ODI squad vs England, with Rachin Ravindra an option as he's bowled 24 overs in ODIs this year with 3w @ 37.3avg/4.6rpo.
The Matt Henry/Jacob Duffy Combo
Matt Henry and Jacob Duffy bowled the most overs for Blackcaps in the October T20Is which saw them struggle to sustain their excellence in this format. Duffy took 5 wickets @ 10.1rpo in his 16 overs and Henry took 3w @ 8.4rpo in 17ov, but both still have lovely records in T20I bowling this year.
Jacob Duffy: 25w @ 16.2avg/7.7rpo
Matt Henry: 14w @ 21.6avg/8.8rpo
They also stand out as the best ODI bowlers for Blackcaps this year. 12 bowlers have taken a wicket for New Zealand in 2025 and only three are averaging below 25 with Ben Sears (19.7) joining the Henry/Duffy duo. Henry leads Aotearoa for ODI wickets this year and Duffy again sneaks under the radar with his efficient mahi.
Matt Henry: 24w @ 15.5avg/4.8rpo
Jacob Duffy: 12w @ 20.7avg/5.5rpo
Here are their career averages for Blackcaps (Test | ODI | T20I)...
Matt Henry: 27.4 | 24.8 | 22.3
Jacob Duffy: 26 | 24.8 | 18.2
Top Order Mixer
Tim Seifert is the best T20I batter for Blackcaps right now and is the leading wicket-keeper for New Zealand in this format, while Tim Robinson and Rachin Ravindra have emerged as the next best batters. Daryl Mitchell has slipped slightly and along with the three just mentioned they form a group of four batters who have scored 200+ runs this year. Mitchell is the only one of that group without a 50+ knock while also scoring below 140sr.
Mark Chapman is in his second year of T20I batting with an average below 20. Mitchell scored 52 runs @ 127sr in the October T20s and Chapman scored 32 runs @ 107sr. Coach Rob Walter opted for Robinson and Ravindra ahead of Devon Conway which was a logical decision given how those three are trending.
This means that Conway is already outside the 1st 11 mix. With Finn Allen and Glenn Phillips (only played one T20I this year) hoping to return from injuries soon, Chapman is the bloke in the danger zone. This could be complicated by middle order stuff as Bracewell is better at batting right now, Jimmy Neesham is much better at bowling than batting and Jacobs could find a groove soon.
T20I Batting Mixer This Year
Tim Seifert: 559 runs @ 50.8avg/164sr
Tim Robinson: 268 runs @ 53.6avg/143sr
Rachin Ravindra: 230 runs @ 38.3avg/164sr
Daryl Mitchell: 216 runs @ 27avg/132sr
Mark Chapman: 176 runs @ 16avg/141sr
Michael Bracewell: 159 runs @ 26.5avg/149sr
Finn Allen: 144 runs @ 36avg/212sr
Devon Conway: 135 runs @ 27avg/135sr
Bevon Jacobs: 64 runs @ 32avg/121sr
Jimmy Neesham: 53 runs @ 8.8avg/108sr
Kane Williamson is not in our T20 top-tier for Blackcaps. He is definitely in the ODI top-tier though which is the same for Will Young and Tom Latham. Conway and Chapman have been solid in ODI batting as well, providing us with more clarity around the best ODI batting group from the squad selected vs England.
Williamson, Ravindra, Mitchell and Latham will start the series locked in for the 1st 11. With Bracewell likely to feature below the fifth batting slot, that leaves the trio of Young, Conway and Chapman competing for one spot, maybe two depending on the balance of all-rounders. Conway and Chapman have only played four ODIs this year (really good in small samples) while Young has played 12 games and Mitchell (13) is the only lad who has played more ODIs this year.
Wicket-Keeping
Latham will start the series vs England as the wicket-keeper and he will probably bat five. Latham has played 157 ODIs for Aotearoa and has batted five in 72 of those ODIs, having not opened in an ODI since 2017.
After the 2019 World Cup, Latham had three years averaging 40+ in ODI batting before dipping below 30avg in his last two years. Latham has a century and two 50+ scores in 10 innings so far this year but he is still grinding away on 29.1avg/85sr, which falls under the umbrella of Latham’s ODI form dropping away since the start of 2023...
Before 2023: 36.36avg/86sr
2023 onwards: 29.66avg/84sr
Latham deserves selection in this squad because he did churn out 205 runs @ 41.6avg/90sr at the Champions Trophy earlier this year. He has ample Blackcaps mana that will see him shown plenty of faith but the depth and options available to Blackcaps mean that Latham needs runs to fight off the challengers.
Blackcaps have a different wicket-keeper for each format with Seifert doing the job in T20Is and Tom Blundell in Tests. Seifert could crossover for a middle order ODI role, while Mitch Hay is on the rise in all three formats; Hay has already played more ODIs than Seifert. Hay's best mahi for Blackcaps is in ODIs with 41.5avg/104sr and while he has stat zones scattered throughout his record, he also averages 48.1 in First-Class batting and has a T20 career strike-rate of 140.
Latham is the only specialist wicket-keeper in the ODI squad and it looks like Hay is being groomed to take over the ODI/Test duties in the next year or so. Max Chu (Otago) is the next best younger bloke putting pressure on Hay and Ben Pomare (ND) is a deep cut to keep track of during the domestic cricket season.
Seaming All-Rounders
Nathan Smith and Zak Foulkes are in the ODI squad to play England, offering a glimmer of hope that they play in the same team together. This is a funky wrinkle to watch out for as Aotearoa has Ravindra and Phillips brewing towards spinny all-rounder status, which in the future could see them selected alongside Adithya Ashok for three highly talented spin options.
Playing Smith and Foulkes together, most notably in Tests and ODIs, would open up a buffet of enticing seam bowling options. Depending on availability and form, Blackcaps could have Smith, Foulkes, Henry and Will O'Rourke in the same team with fabulous depth competing for selections (Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson, Ben Sears, Matt Fisher).
This is made possible by the abilities of Smith and Foulkes. Foulkes has played 17 games for Aotearoa which revolves around 15 T20Is and that's more than Smith's 13 games. Smith has played 10 ODIs and three Tests, while Foulkes has only played one of each and after roughly a year of being split across their favoured formats, they are now in the same squad together.
Here are their career stats (bat | ball)...
Nathan Smith
FC: 26.2avg/49sr | 26.6avg/2.9rpo
LA: 23.2avg/92sr | 32.1avg/5.5rpo
T20: 15.2avg/129sr | 25avg/8.4rpo
Zak Foulkes
FC: 18avg/46sr | 25.6avg/3.2rpo
LA: 25.7avg/73sr | 28.2avg/5.1rpo
T20: 13.9avg/126sr | 21.6avg/7.8rpo
To support The Niche Cache you can join the Patreon whanau or donate through Buy Me A Coffee. A little goes a long way to fund our mahi. Smash an ad.
Peace and love.