The 28-year-old Southlander has joined Northern Districts paceman Scott Kuggeleijn in the Black Caps test squad for the series against England.
The pair were yesterday called in as replacements for Auckland’s Kyle Jamieson and Canterbury’s Matt Henry.
Jamieson has been ruled out of the England test series with a suspected back stress fracture, while Henry is on paternity leave and will miss the first test at Bay Oval as he awaits the birth of his first child.
Duffy is a strong chance of playing.
The right-armer, who has played three ODIs and 10 T20s for his country, was in sharp form with the red ball earlier this summer.
He has picked up 22 Plunket Shield wickets at an average of 21.36 this season. Only Henry has taken more wickets in the competition.
Duffy’s control over the red ball and his ability to shape it through the air make him a more obvious pick for the first test which is a day-nighter and will be played with a pink ball.
The evening session has traditionally been a productive one for swing bowlers.
Duffy has been included on the past two Black Caps test tours to England, so he has been on the selectors’ radar for a lengthy period.
Kuggeleijn is a different type of bowler from Duffy. He is quicker, hits the deck harder and is in possession of a tremendous bouncer.
But he has struggled in the Plunket Shield this season with four wickets in three games at an average of 64.
The pair were scheduled to arrive in Mount Maunganui yesterday afternoon.
Wicketkeeper Tom Blundell and batter Henry Nicholls were also late arrivals. Blundell was on family leave, while Nicholls missed his original flight from Christchurch on Monday due to Cyclone Gabrielle.
Black Caps coach Gary Stead said it had been a difficult few days but he was hopeful, with the changes now confirmed, the team could focus on the preparation ahead.
Stead confirmed Jamieson’s injury was picked up in an MRI scan and was a recurrence of the one that ruled him out of the England test tour in June.
"It’s really gutting for Kyle to have this happen after he’d put so much hard work in to getting himself back on the park," Stead said.
"Since the injury in June, we’ve certainly taken a cautious approach to managing his return with regular monitoring by our medical staff which has included scans.
"While Kyle’s not feeling any pain, the evidence is pretty clear he has a stress fracture and so he’ll return to Christchurch today and have a CT scan on Friday before we decide on the next steps."
Henry is expected to be available for the second test in Wellington starting on February 24.
