New Zealand announce their squad for the tour of Australia 2015

New Zealand announce their squad for the tour of Australia 2015: New Zealand has announced its 15-man squad for the tour of Australia which will commence from 5th November, 2015. The series will include 3 Tests that will be played in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide respectively. It is notable that this series is one of the most anticipated Test series of the year as the Trans-Tasman rivals will lock horns at Adelaide Oval in a Day-Night Test as well which has been in headlines since the announcement of the tour. It will take place on 27th November with Pink ball and Floodlight.

The Black Caps have only made one change in their squad which had toured England, earlier this year. Jimmy Neesham has made a return to the squad in place of Neil Wagner. Neesham is all set to play at the no.6 batting slot. New Zealand is likely to field 4 seamers in their XI with Jimmy Neesham as the all-rounder. He missed the tour of England due to back injury, but did make a return to the national side on New Zealand’s tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The key Kiwi players Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Corey Anderson are also making a return to the national side after missing out on the limited overs tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa. Talking about Jimmy Neesham’s return in the Test squad, the Black Caps coach Mike Hesson was quoted saying that, “A lot of our recent success has been based on the value of our No.6 batsman bowling some overs, and we’re comfortable continuing in that vein. Rather than having an extra fast bowler not playing in Australia, we thought it more prudent for those in contention to remain in New Zealand and be playing domestic cricket.”

He further added, “It makes sense to have our fringe Test players included in these matches. It’s good to keep them involved in high level cricket, especially on the cusp of the tour to Australia. We know at some stage someone will be required – that’s the attritional nature of a three-match Test series.”

Luke Ronchi is also included in the squad as a backup for BJ Watling who had suffered injury on the tour of England. On his inclusion in the side, Hesson said, “This is a tour in which we spend quite a lot of time on the west coast of Australia and, given what happened to BJ’s knee in England, it seems wise to have options close at hand”.

New Zealand Test squad for the tour of Australia 2015: 

Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum (capt), Ross Taylor, James Neesham, BJ Watling, Luke Ronchi, Corey Anderson, Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Matt Henry, Trent Boult.