New Zealand have announced a 15-man Test squad for their tour of Australia in November.
New Zealand Cricket selectors did not make any major changes to the squad that drew a Test series against England earlier this year apart from one. Jimmy Neesham has been named as the replacement for Neil Wagner for the upcoming tour.
Neesham missed the tour of England earlier this year due to a stress fracture on his back. Neesham was impressive in the first two Test matches that he played for the Kiwis where he scored a couple of centuries batting at no.6 position against India and West Indies last year. All-rounders are becoming a rare commodity in this international game and the Black Caps do not want to leave Neesham and Anderson out as both might prove handy with the bat and ball against Australia.
"A lot of our recent success has been based on the value of our No.6 batsman bowling some overs, and we're comfortable continuing in that vein," New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson told the reporters on Friday.
"Rather than having an extra fast bowler not playing in Australia, we thought it more prudent for those in contention to remain in New Zealand and be playing domestic cricket."
The Black Caps will be playing three Test matches in the month of November. This series will also showcase the inaugural day-night Test match at Adelaide, which will be played with the pink ball.
The first Test match between New Zealand and Australia will be played at Gabba in Brisbane starting on 5 November, followed by the second Test at WACA in Perth and finally the historic day and night Test at the Adelaide Oval from 27 November.
New Zealand Test squad Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum (capt), Ross Taylor, James Neesham, BJ Watling, Luke Ronchi, Corey Anderson, Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Matt Henry, Trent Boult.
New Zealand A one-day squad Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Andrew Mathieson, Henry Nicholls, Ed Nuttall, Michael Pollard, Hamish Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Ben Wheeler, George Worker, Will Young
New Zealand A four-day squad Todd Astle, Michael Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Derek de Boorder, Jacob Duffy, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Ed Nuttall, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Neil Wagner, Ben Wheeler, Will Young
