The Blackcaps T20I series vs South Africa features a refreshed group after the T20 World Cup and again highlights New Zealand's impressive depth across the various roles. Some players will back up after the T20WC as they continue to show up to represent Aotearoa, but this is all about the new players who will have opportunities in an epic double-header with White Ferns.

There are 11 players who fit the fresh category and that means we can assemble a 1st 11 of players who did not play at the T20WC. Here's how that could look...

Katene Clarke
Tom Latham
Tim Robinson
Dane Cleaver
Nick Kelly
Bevon Jacobs
Josh Clarkson
Zak Foulkes
Nathan Smith
Ben Sears
Jayden Lennox

This group would offer a wicket-keeper in the opening position which Blackcaps love, with Latham and Cleaver both capable of plugging that hole as well as covering the middle order. It also has the extended batting line up that Blackcaps love with Clarkson, Foulkes and Smith all genuine all-rounders who have the batting craft to adapt to whatever role is required. While light on extra bowling options, this is merely an exercise to show how capable Blackcaps depth is right now.

These players are selection for different games of the series vs South Africa and all of that is too niggly to stress about. The focus here is information about these fresh players and there is no better place to start than Katene Clarke because his status as a T20 specialist makes him a fascinating bloke to ponder at this checkpoint.

Clarke probably doesn't want to be viewed as a T20 specialist. He is in this pocket because he wasn't scoring many runs in Plunket Shield so he dipped out of Northern Districts' longform group and hasn't played that format since November 2023. Clarke started his one-day career nicely but his Ford Trophy mahi has dipped away to average below 20 in three consecutive seasons.

At the same time Clarke has had his two best seasons of Super Smash, culminating in the best season of his career this season. Here are his last seasons in each format...

2025/26 Super Smash: 10 games, 431 runs @ 61.5avg/172sr
2025/26 Ford Trophy: 6 games, 44 runs @ 7.3avg/53sr
2023/24 Plunket Shield: 4 games, 46 runs @ 9.2avg/50sr

Clarke's last 10 games also tell the story...

Super Smash: 60*, 100*, 30, 38, 33
Ford Trophy: 2, 16, 26, 0, 0

Zoning in on T20 batting has resulted in Clarke being called up to the Blackcaps squad and unlike Finn Allen, Clarke has already fell into the T20 specialist bucket before entering the Blackcaps level. Allen wasn't progressing very well in the other formats so once his gathered his T20 mana, he focused on T20 cricket. Clarke hasn't exactly made that decision but he is only a 1st 11 player for ND in T20s and he's good enough in this role to play for New Zealand.

I explored much of this but with more spotlight on the T20 flux and contracting stuff in our latest drop on Substack. As Clarke hasn't settled in the other formats for ND and his T20 batting has excelled in this period, he is the ideal player to pick up T20 jobs around the world and if he's scoring runs, he can still represent Aotearoa in T20Is as another hyper aggressive opening batter.

There are others who play more Super Smash than the other formats, but Clarke is unique in how his slide in the other formats has coincided with T20 dominance. The beauty of kiwi cricket is how players across all levels develop across the formats and this is evident in how all but Sears who was at the T20WC have been playing Plunket Shield recently, as well as putting up good performances across each format throughout their careers.

Here are some quick hitters for each player to update how they have been tracking...

Tom Latham recent scores: 2, 34, 104, 103*, 0, 47, 80, 4, 79, 101*.

Latham in Super Smash: 237 runs @ 33.8avg/157sr

Tim Robinson in T20Is since the start of 2025: 423 runs @ 42.3avg/144sr.

Robinson in Super Smash: 135 runs @ 19.2avg/141sr

Dane Cleaver this summer

Plunket Shield: 261 runs @ 37.2avg/62sr
Ford Trophy: 269 runs @ 26.9avg/100sr
Super Smash: 277 runs @ 30.7avg/148sr

Nick Kelly in Super Smash: 108 runs @ 36avg/142sr

Bevon Jacobs recent scores: 33, 7, 12, 47, 38, 24*, 0, 5, 34, 0

Jacobs hasn't hit a 50+ score since Super Smash.

Josh Clarkson this summer

Plunket Shield: 107 runs @ 15.2avg/47sr | 14w @ 33.6avg/3.5rpo
Ford Trophy: 293 runs @ 41.8avg/122sr | 23w @ 19.4avg/4.9rpo
Super Smash: 133 runs @ 33.2avg/121sr | 2w @ 58.5avg/10.6rpo

Zak Foulkes hasn’t played since the T20I series vs India

Foulkes in T20Is: 17.6avg/154sr | 29.9avg/9.4rpo

Nathan Smith is yet to play T20Is and did not play Super Smash.

Smith in T20s: 15.2avg/129sr | 25avg/8.4rpo

Smith's last 10 games

Scores: 23, 28, 9, 14, 64*, 30, 39, 62*, 13, 42
Wickets: 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1, 1, 4, 2, 0

Ben Sears in Super Smash: 15w @ 17.9avg/8.9rpo

Sears in T20Is: 24.7avg/8.5rpo

Sears in T20s: 21.3avg//8.4rpo

Jayden Lennox this summer

ODIs: 3w @ 28avg/4.2rpo
Plunket Shield: 10w @ 23.5avg/2.3rpo
Ford Trophy: 15w @ 29.9avg/4.8rpo
Super Smash: 7w @ 24.1avg/8.9rpo

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