WELLINGTON: New Zealand on Tuesday recalled off-spinner Mark Craig to replace injured all-rounder Mitchell Santner in their squad to play first Test of the two-match series against Australia, starting in Wellington on Friday.

Santner bruised his foot in the second One-day International of the preceding limited-overs series and consequently sat out of the series decider in Hamilton, on Monday.

New Zealand won the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy 2-1 to give their retiring skipper Brendon McCullum a fitting farewell.

The hosts, however, are hoping that the 24-year-old all-rounder will recover in time to be a part of the squad for the second Test.

New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson said a final call on Santner’s availability for the Christchurch Test will be taken at a later stage.

“It’s one of those things that if we continue to play him, it could turn into a far longer injury,” Hesson said. “Hopefully we’ve got it early enough.”

Meanwhile, Ish Sodhi, who replaced Santner in the final ODI at Seddon Park and picked two wickets to claim the man-of-the-match award, was snubbed for the Test spot.

Craig, who has 46 scalps in 13 Tests, was incidentally replaced by Santner for the home series against Sri Lanka after a disappointing tour of Australia.

The good news for the hosts, however, is that Trent Boult has recovered well after his illness forced him to sit out of the final ODI.

Injured duo of swing bowler Tim Southee and batsman Ross Taylor are also recovering well.

Revised squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Corey Anderson, B.J. Watling, Luke Ronchi, Mark Craig, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2016