The Blackcaps will once again flex their depth for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh where they will play three ODIs and three T20Is. New Zealand has made the final of the last two major tournaments with the Champions Trophy and then the T20 World Cup, which is one of many indicators of an excellent cricketing pipeline.

Another indicator is that Blackcaps are 19-4 in ODIs since the start of 2025. Not only do they have a dominant record in this format, they have used 27 players and that's enough for two teams of kiwi cricketers with a few leftover. Blackcaps also have an 8-3 record outside of New Zealand in this period and that includes the Champions Trophy as well as the tour of India over the summer.

Blackcaps made the Champions Trophy final with a full strength group and beat up India with a bunch of depth players getting busy. Kristian Clarke was the leading wicket-taker for Blackcaps in India and Jayden Lennox looked comfy in his first dose of ODI cricket as examples of how a wide range of kiwis consistently contribute to winning Blackcaps cricket.

12 of the best Blackcaps who played ODIs over the last year won't be part of this Bangladesh tour and five T20I players aren't involved. Some of the T20I lads aren't good enough to crack Blackcaps ODI squads so let's roll with the conservative figure of at least 12 top-tier Blackcaps not touring Bangladesh and Aotearoa can still offer an ODI squad in which all 15 players have ODI experience.

This is normal for New Zealand cricket but it should not be taken for granted. It's amplified by have NZ-A squads in action around the same time and there is a group of talented youngsters who are still building towards the NZ-A level. There are top-tier players not in Blackcaps, a Blackcaps squad with no debutants, NZ-A squads and even funkier talent not selected for NZ-A all happening around the same time.

Here's how the ODI squad breaks down by roles...

Bat: Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Nick Kelly
WK: Tom Latham, Dane Cleaver
AR: Nathan Smith, Josh Clarkson, Kristian Clarke, Dean Foxcroft, Muhammad Abbas
Spin: Jayden Lennox, Adithya Ashok
Seam: Will O'Rourke, Ben Sears, Blair Tickner

This will be an intriguing challenge for the batting unit as none of the batters are averaging over 30 since the start of 2025. Let's tweak that to say that they are all averaging below 27 which includes the trio of Tom Latham, Will Young and Henry Nicholls as well as Nick Kelly who hasn't snapped up his opportunity in ODIs/T20Is yet (averaging below 17 in both formats).

Batters in ODIs since start of 2025

Will Young: 449 runs @ 22.4avg/80sr
Tom Latham: 365 runs @ 26avg/82sr
Henry Nicholls: 136 runs @ 22.6avg/71sr
Nick Kelly: 49 runs @ 16.3avg/80sr

Dane Cleaver could play as the leading wicket-keeper if Latham opens the batting, which seems likely with how this squad has been selected. Cleaver could also open the batting and that shows how useful his experience is for this kind of Blackcaps squad as he can adapt to whatever role the team needs.

Cleaver hasn't played an ODI since the start of 2025 but he did score 32 runs @ 86sr in his one ODI appearance and he's got a 50+ score in T20Is. Most notably, Cleaver has a nice phase of scores across each format in his last 10 games; 2, 48, 75, 0, 109, 67, 78, 26, 22, 76, 17.

The ODI squad is full of all-rounders and reflects the abundance of all-rounders in New Zealand cricket. Smith finished the domestic season with three 50+ scores and six 30+ scores in his last eight innings, while also taking wickets in seven of his last eight bowling innings.

Not only was Clarke the leading wicket-taker in India, he also smacked 35 runs @ 159sr in that series and returned to Aotearoa where he scored his second century of the summer. Abbas already has a 50+ score in ODIs and got through plenty of bowling mahi early this year as a lefty seamer.

Clarkson has shown his batting power in T20Is for Blackcaps and one-day bowling is his best zone with the ball, which is evident in his tremendous Ford Trophy campaign (23w @ 19.4avg/4.9rpo) and his List-A career average of 26.7. He also averages 24.3 with the ball in ODIs and will be joined be Central Districts homie Foxcroft who has played one ODI and five T20Is for Aotearoa as a batter who can offer overs of spin.

All-rounders in ODIs since start of 2025

Muhammad Abbas: 104 runs @ 34.6avg/101sr | 2w @ 29.5avg/5.9rpo
Kristian Clarke: 35 runs @ 35avg/159sr | 7w @ 26.1avg/6.7rpo
Nathan Smith: 34 runs @ 6.8avg/57sr | 17w @ 29.2avg/6.5rpo

Smith's lack of runs is balanced by having the same number of wickets with a far better average than O'Rourke in this period. O'Rourke returns to the Blackcaps mix and his ODI bowling average of 36.2 is his only average across the six pockets above 30. Sears and Tickner have also been excellent in ODIs since the start of 2025...

Will O'Rourke: 17w @ 40.1avg/5.6rpo
Ben Sears: 10w @ 19.7avg/5.7rpo
Blair Tickner: 9w @ 17.6avg/6.6rpo

Lennox and Ashok are the main spinners for the ODI series, with Foxcroft adding another spin option. Lennox made his ODI debut in India and Ashok's played one game since the start of 2025, with three ODIs in his career so far. Lennox should be more accurate and economical than the leggy Ashok but it's also worth highlighting how Lennox has had more time and space to fine-tune his craft as a mature player and Ashok is still learning how to be effective with a tricky bowling style.

Spinners in ODIs since start of 2025

Jayden Lennox: 3w @ 28avg/4.2rpo
Adithya Ashok: 1w @ 55avg/9.1rpo

Both spinners featured prominently for NZ-A last year and they have both shown potential with the bat. Lennox had a knock of 88 runs in South Africa for NZ-A last year and both have a 50+ score in their careers, while Ashok scored 103 runs @ 20.6avg/103sr in Ford Trophy this season.

While unlikely, there are ways for Blackcaps to roll out an ODI team in Bangladesh that makes the most of their all-round talents. Here's one team combination with that in mind...

Tom Latham, Dane Cleaver (wk), Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Muhammad Abbas, Dean Foxcroft, Nathan Smith, Josh Clarkson, Ben Sears, Jayden Lennox, Will O'Rourke

That leaves Kelly, Clarke, Ashok and Tickner who can step into the team. Conditions will favour the slower bowlers and Blackcaps can easily tweak their team with Ashok selected ahead of Abbas or Clarkson, bumping the other all-rounders up a spot in the line up.

We'll check in with the tour between ODI and T20I phases. Here's a break down of the T20I squad by roles...

Bat: Tim Robinson, Bevon Jacobs, Nick Kelly, Katene Clarke
WK: Tom Latham, Dane Cleaver
AR: Nathan Smith, Josh Clarkson, Kristian Clarke, Dean Foxcroft
Spin: Ish Sodhi, Jayden Lennox
Seam: Ben Sears, Blair Tickner, Matt Fisher

Robinson, Jacobs and Clarke come in for Young, Nicholls and Abbas. Sodhi steps in for Ashok as leggies, while Fisher replaces O'Rourke.

With those squad changes in mind, the entire tour of Bangladesh will feature 20 different players. There is crossover with the NZ-A tour with Abbas, Clarke, Robinson and Sears also involved in the one-day series in Sri Lanka, while Robinson is available for the first four-dayer in Sri Lanka.

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