He last played for New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Final.
In an encouraging news for New Zealand, former skipper Kane Williamson and fast bowler Nathan Smith are set to return to the team for the ODI series against England. The series is scheduled to commence from October 26 in Tauranga. The two teams are currently battling it out in the T20I series, which hangs in the balance after the solitary game couldn’t derive a result.
Both Williamson and Smith last represented New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Final against India, but were unavailable for the start of the home summer later. While Williamson had been recovering from a minor medical issue in the last month, Smith was finding his way back from an abdominal injury, which he sustained against Zimbabwe in August.
This would be the first time that Rob Walter, the coach for New Zealand, would be working with the team in the 50-over format. Walter had some encouraging words to say about the return of Williamson and Smith, and also voiced his opinions on the balance of the squad.
“Kane and Nathan have had to work hard to overcome their respective injuries and illness. Nathan’s still relatively new to his international career, but he’s impressed with his all-round skills and ability in the field”, said head coach Walter.
With the amount of ODIs going down with the emergence of T20 leagues around the world, every team has begun their preparations for the mega-event in 2027. The case for New Zealand is no different. The likes of Kane Williamson and Nathan Smith being back into the setup will surely give their confidence a fair boost.
For this series as well, there was a list of players who will be unavailable due to injury. It would be extremely important for the Kiwis to assemble their best XI on the road to start their preparations for the World Cup in 2027. Mohammad Abbas (ribs), Finn Allen (foot), Lockie Ferguson (hamstring), Adam Milne (ankle), Will O’Rourke (back), Glenn Phillips (groin), and Ben Sears (hamstring), were all unavailable due to injury.
The former Kiwi skipper will join Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Will Young and Mark Chapman as specialist batters. However, Tom Latham will go in as the first choice wicketkeeper-batter for the side. Moreover, Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell, Nathan Smith and Ravindra would be the all-rounders for the series.
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Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
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