A fresh faced BLACKCAPS side equipped with a new captain and some wily veterans flew out to Dublin on Saturday night for a One Day Tri Series with Ireland and Bangladesh.
Time to ✈️ ... first stop Dubai then onto Dublin for the #TriSeries #CT17 pic.twitter.com/FyfVgilwjG
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) May 6, 2017
The majority of the 15 man squad held a training camp in Mount Maunganui last week and coach Mike Hesson said he couldn’t be happier with their preparation.
“We had great weather in Tauranga and got plenty of good work done,” Hesson said.
“We’ve got some good fresh faces and guys that are really keen to make an impact in the squad which is exciting. They’re really looking forward to that opportunity they’re going to get in Ireland so it’s an exciting group to work with.
“These are guys who have been bashing the door down and looking for opportunities so it’s really nice to be able to provide that in a really competitive environment in Ireland against a couple of full strength sides who are going to be a big a challenge for us.”
BLACKCAPS fitness testing at the Mount... Who comes out on top? #CT17 pic.twitter.com/0chLGbSp6B
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) April 28, 2017
Tri Series squad
Tom Latham (c)
Hamish Bennett
Neil Broom
Scott Kuggeleijn
Colin Munro
James Neesham
Henry Nicholls
Jeetan Patel*
Seth Rance
Luke Ronchi
Mitchell Santner
Ish Sodhi
Ross Taylor
Neil Wagner
George Worker
The tournament will see 25-year-old Canterbury batsman Tom Latham become the 22nd ODI captain of the BLACKCAPS.
Hesson was confident his rising star could cope with the extra burden and said Latham would be able to lean on some of the senior guys.
“He’s very calm, he’s had plenty of experience with the under 19s and at Canterbury. He’s got a good cricket brain, he relates to all the players really nicely and it will be a great chance for us to see Tom under a bit of pressure.
“We’ve got a number of senior players he can use, Ross will be one of those as a key guy. We expect a lot of those senior guys to help Tom out because it can be quite a lonely task at times.”
Hesson and the team will have a week on the ground in Dublin and play a mid-week warm-up match before pening the Tri Series against the hosts at the Malahide Cricket Club in Dublin on Sunday 14th (9:45pm NZT).
The BLACKCAPS will play each side twice to find an overall winner, before relocating to London for an ICC Champions Trophy warm-up match against India at the Oval on Sunday May 28th.
The tournament squad will assemble for that match with the majority of the IPL players filtering back in depending on the fortunes of their franchise.
“There’s a lot of unknown about the guys in the IPL, where their teams sit, when they might be released and if they will be released. We’ll have to have some flexibility in how we operate, we’ll have some extra players join us at certain times and some guys will be playing country and club cricket in India.
“They’re all professionals and I’m expecting them to turn up ready to go,” Hesson said.
The team will then move north to Birmingham to open their tournament campaign against Australia on June 2nd.
With England and Bangladesh also in the BLACKCAPS pool, Hesson knew the pressure would be on from the get-go.
“The format is a challenge in itself. One week, three games against three good sides and obviously you’ve got to win at least two of them.”
“It’s exciting that although it can work quickly one way, it can also go quickly in your favour and if you get on a roll who knows what may happen.”
ICC Champions Trophy squad
Kane Williamson (c)
Corey Anderson
Trent Boult
Neil Broom
Colin de Grandhomme
Martin Guptill
Tom Latham
Mitchell McClenaghan
Adam Milne
Jimmy Neesham
Jeetan Patel
Luke Ronchi
Mitchell Santner
Tim Southee
Ross Taylor
