New Zealand’s captain, Kane Williamson has been ruled out of South Africa’s two-match Test series at home, which is scheduled to commence later this month, owing to an elbow injury. The 31-year-old has been out with a tendon strain for almost a year, prompting him to miss out for a long term. Gary Stead confident about Williamson’s recovery.
Williamson missed Kiwi’s recent series versus Bangladesh due to a strain issue that couldn’t be healed properly. His last appeared in November versus India.
Kane Williamson is desperate to be fit for the series: Gary Stead
The New Zealand coach also made clear that treatment was not a consideration for Williamson, who instead required “progressive and consistent loading” to restore full fitness.
“We are very confident it will be right completely. A lot of tendon injuries like this, they do linger for a while. At the moment, he has been somewhere around 14-15 months. They say they are usually gone in about 18 months’ time, so let’s hope that is the case with Kane”, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said in an Interaction.
“(Kane) was desperate to be fit for the series but with the amount of loading required for test cricket, we had to make the tough call… and focus on returning for the white-ball matches against the Netherlands in March,” Gary Stead added.
Williamson is expected to come back for shorter-format games against the Netherlands in late March, however, his Indian Premier League (IPL) duties with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) may have an impact.
It’s important to remember this squad is just for the first Test: Gary Stead
The retirement of experienced Ross Taylor will expose New Zealand to one of its finest batting tracks in recent times, whereas the bowling allrounder Daryl Mitchell probably to bat at No. 5. NZ recalled all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme as well as opening batsman Hamish Rutherford for the very first match, and wicket – keeper Cam Fletcher & pacer Blair Tickner were picked, which will then be headed by Tom Latham.
“Whoever gets that (chance) I’m sure will make the most of it. I think when you look at guys like Will Young and Daryl Mitchell and the way they’ve entered the test arena, it’s hard to argue that it’s not their time now.”
“It’s important to remember this squad is just for the first Test, so we do have the flexibility to make changes as required, with the likes of Trent and Ajaz potentially available for the second,” Kiwi head coach Gary Stead concluded.
New Zealand squad for the 1st Test: Tom Latham (captain), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Cam Fletcher, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Will Young.
