CHRISTCHURCH: Wicket-keeper Tom Blundell was the surprise selection on Wednesday as New Zealand became the first nation to announce its 15-man squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup.
The 28-year-old Blundell — despite never having played a single One-day International — has played just two Tests, making a century on debut, and three Twenty20 Internationals, but will serve as a backup to Tom Latham for the May 30-July 14 50-over tournament in England and Wales.
“The key for us was finding the right balance for the squad and making sure we had our bases covered for what is going to be a very competitive World Cup,” head coach Gary Stead said after picking the squad with national selector Gavin Larsen. “As a one-day unit we’ve been pretty consistent over the past few years and possess a very experienced group of core players, proven at the top level.”
Blundell’s last appearance for New Zealand was in a Twenty20 International against Australia in Sydney in early 2018. He did not play a single game for Wellington in New Zealand’s domestic one-day competition this season and has averaged only 23 at a strike-rate of 79 in 40 List A matches.
His surprise elevation into the squad is at the expense of Tim Seifert, who had been the preferred wicket-keeper in Twenty20 Internationals this summer and made his One-day International debut in January against Sri Lanka.
The aggressive Seifert, who can bat up and down the order, showed his potential with quickfire scores of 84 and 43 while opening against India in Twenty20 Internationals in February, but broke his finger towards the end of the season.
While he would have recovered for the World Cup, questions had been asked about his work with the gloves and Stead had said he would prefer to select a specialist to back up Latham, who only assumed the role in the one-day squad two years ago.
Henry Nicholls had been previously mooted as a potential emergency wicket-keeper if Latham got injured, but is now expected to open the batting with Martin Guptill after Colin Munro fell out of favour.
Munro, however, still made the final 15-man squad with his ability to also bowl medium pace but is more likely to be batting cover.
Captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, in his fourth World Cup campaign, complete a battle-hardened batting line up.
Williamson, Taylor and Guptill have collectively amassed 526 ODI appearances between them.
Guptill and Taylor have not confirmed their post-tournament plans but will most likely be looking to exit cricket’s biggest stage on a high.
Ish Sodhi also won a tight selection battle with Todd Astle as the second spinner, with all-rounder Mitchell Santner the first-choice slow bowler.
The choice of Sodhi over Astle was considered a far from straightforward selection battle, with both leg-spinners given opportunities to prove themselves in white-ball cricket over New Zealand’s summer.
Astle is the stronger batsman but Sodhi is considered the more attacking bowler and took 24 wickets at 21.17 in his final three first-class games in March.
James Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme — who edged out Dough Bracewell for the final spot — were named as the other all-rounders, while the four frontline pace bowlers Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry were never in doubt.
The squad was named at Tai Tapu Primary School, a small country school near Christchurch. Expectations of the team are high after New Zealand reached the final of the last World Cup in 2015 which they co-hosted with eventual champions Australia.
“Obviously there’s had to be some tough calls and there will be some disappointed players,” Stead said. “The key for us was finding the right balance for the squad and making sure we had our bases covered for what is going to be a very competitive World Cup. “We’ve got a squad here of 15 players that we think can give us a really, really good chance of going far into the tournament. If we play close to our potential, then hopefully we can do New Zealand proud.”
The Black Caps, who are currently third in the one-day rankings, behind England and India will open their campaign against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on June 1.
Squad: Kane Williamson (captain), Tom Latham (vice-captain), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2019