New Zealand allows key players to skip domestic games
What’s the story?
Key players Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Kane Williamson and Mitchell Santner will be rested from the List A domestic competitions in order to get them fit for the series against South Africa. Pacers Southee and Boult are rested as a part of their workload management while Santner and Williamson will have to recover from niggles.
“Tim, Trent, Santner and Williamson will all be out for a week and will be given a chance to recoup. Both Santner and Williamson have got injuries that they need to get right and Tim and Trent have obviously high workloads. The rest will return to some degree,” said the New Zealand head coach, Mike Hesson on February 6th.
In case you didn’t know...
Some of New Zealand’s important players are dealing with a lot of injury issues lately. Neil Wagner fractured his finger last week during a Ford trophy match and he is in doubt for the Test series while wicket-keepers BJ Watling and Luke Ronchi are also recovering from their respective injuries.
Tom Latham took over the wicket-keeping responsibility when both the keepers suffered injury. With replacements being made for the injured players, Hesson seems to be very pleased with the depth of the squad which according to him is the reason for New Zealand’s victory against Australia.
The heart of the matter
South Africa’s tour of New Zealand is set to start on February 17th which comprises of a single T20, five ODIs and three Tests. With many players coming in and walking out of the team due to injuries, the management has taken this decision to rest players from domestic matches. With the long series coming up, the decision of resting the key players for the domestic series is, no doubt, a good one.
New Zealand cricket team cannot afford losing major players with the big series nearing.
What’s next?
Trent Boult and Tim Southee have been given some time off to rejuvenate themselves before the series while Kane Williamson and Mitchell Santner have been rested to recover from their injuries and they are expected to be completely fit before the South Africa series.
The keepers Watling and Ronchi are expected to return to the national side as wel.
Sportskeeda take
With a huge blow coming in the form of Neil Wagner’s injury, the decision to rest key players is going to serve them right. And with all the other players making progress from their injuries, New Zealand can still have a balanced team for the South African series.
Alternatively, the Kiwis have a lot of options and depth in their squad if any player has to be replaced.