NEW ZEALAND TOUR OF ZIMBABWE
Santner is set to become New Zealand’s 32nd Test captain © Sportzpics
New Zealand Test captain Tom Latham has been ruled out of the first Test against Zimbabwe with a shoulder injury. White-ball skipper Mitchell Santner will lead the team in Latham’s absence, becoming New Zealand’s 32nd men’s Test captain.
Latham suffered the injury while fielding during a T20 match for Birmingham earlier in the month and has not recovered sufficiently in time to make it to the XI for the Test that starts on Wednesday (July 30). He will though remain with the squad in the hope to regain full match fitness ahead of the second Test starting August 7.
“It’s hugely disappointing for Tom to be missing the first Test, as captain but also as an integral part of the team,” said head coach Rob Walter. “It’s never great when you lose your captain, who’s a world-class opening batter and a great team man, but that said we’re going to work really hard to have him available for the second Test. We’ll continue to assess and see whether a replacement player is necessary, but at this stage we are hopeful that he’ll recover in time.”
Santner takes over fresh off the success in the preceding T20I tri-series, beating South Africa by three runs in a closely-fought final to stay unbeaten on this tour.
“Mitch did a wonderful job with the T20 squad in this recent series,” Walter said. “He was excellent from a strategy point of view and he has a strong understanding of the game. Whilst the format is different, he certainly has the respect of the players and will be supported by some highly experienced Test cricketers, so I trust that he’s going to do a great job.”
© Cricbuzz
