Henry Nicholls to lead New Zealand 'A' on their trip to India

New Zealand cricket announced an extremely solid New Zealand ‘A’ bunch for their upcoming tour against India. Top-order batsman Henry Nicholls has been elected as the captain of the 16-man side. The tour scheduled to kick off on the 23rd of September and is set to be a cracker of a contest between the youngsters of two cricketing giants.

Details:

The New Zealand ‘A’ team will lock horns with India ‘A’ in two first class matches to begin the tour with. Those matches will be followed by a 5 match One Day international series which will see the two teams lock horns in the 50 over format. The tour will take place at Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam respectively.

New Zealand opener Jeet Raval will be a part of the Kiwi squad for the two first class matches. Unfortunately for the batsman, he failed to book a berth in the One Day Internationals that will follow and will be replaced by Glenn Philips for those games. Destructive batsman Colin Munro, spinner Ish Sodhi and pacer Lockie Ferguson also grabbed spots successfully.

Former New Zealand legend and lethal speedster Shane Bond will lead the side as the head coach. It will be an added advantage for the team due to Bond’s experience as a cricketer and his familiarity with coaching while being a part of the Mumbai Indians management.

“There’s quite a range of experience within the group, with a number having already featured for the Black CAps and all of them with a chance to impress,” said selector Gavin Larsen. “It will be a new test for the likes of Sean Solia and Will Young, but it’s an opportunity they’ve earned through performance.”The team will head towards India on the 19th of September in order to engage themselves in the battle.

Here is the whole squad:

Henry Nicholls (c), Todd Astle, Tom Blundell (wk), Tom Bruce, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips (wk), Seth Rance, Jeet Raval, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Sean Solia, George Worker, Will Young.

Schedule:

First four-day match: September 23-26 in Vijayawada

Second four-day match: September30-October 3 in Vijayawada

First one-day match: October 6 in Visakhapatnam

Second one-day match: October 8 in Visakhapatnam

Third one-day match: October 10 in Visakhapatnam

Fourth one-day match: October 13 in Visakhapatnam

Fifth one-day match: October 15 in Visakhapatnam