New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has been named in his first white ball squad since the T20 World Cup as the Black Caps ramp up their preparations for the global tournament with their first tour of the Caribbean in eight years.
Williamson, who played his last T20 match in the defeat by Australia in the World Cup final last November, will captain identical T20 and one-day squads to play the West Indies in six white ball matches starting in Jamaica on Aug. 10.
Williamson will be joined by pace veterans Trent Boult and Tim Southee, and batsman Devon Conway, all of whom were rested following the team’s 3-0 whitewash by England in the test series in June.
Its always exciting to be heading somewhere youve not been in a while and I know this group cant wait for the challenge of taking on the West Indies in the Caribbean,” coach Gary Stead said in a statement today.
Important trip
“For Kane, Trent, Tim and Devon, this will be the first time they have played white ball cricket for New Zealand since last years T20 World Cup and tour to India - so this trip will be important for them.” New Zealand wrapped up a 3-0 T20 series defeat of Ireland with a six-wicket win in Belfast last week.
A number of players who featured in that series have been omitted for the West Indies tour, including Dane Cleaver, Jacob Duffy and Blair Tickner.
Batsmen Finn Allen and Michael Bracewell have broken into New Zealand’s best 15 in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup hosted by champions Australia in October-November.
Allen made his ODI debut against Ireland this month, while Bracewell made his T20I debut against the Irish last week.
