Black Caps wicketkeeper-batter Tom Latham has been ruled out of the coming ODI series against Pakistan with a fractured right hand.
Latham was struck on the hand by a delivery while batting in the nets during training this week.
An X-ray revealed a fracture which will require a cast and at least four weeks rest and rehabilitation.
Henry Nicholls will replace Latham in the squad. Michael Bracewell will take the captaincy reins and Canterbury keeper Mitch Hay will take the gloves.
Nicholls, who has 78 ODI caps to his name, has missed much of this season with a calf strain but returned this month with five 50-plus scores in his six domestic innings.
The selectors also confirmed opener Will Young will come out of the ODI squad for games two and three of the series to be with his wife as they await the birth of their first child.
Young will play tomorrow’s opening game in his home town of Napier before being replaced in the squad by 23-year-old Canterbury batter Rhys Mariu, who earns his maiden call-up.
■Otago players dominate a South Island women’s team to play three one-dayers against the North Island at Lincoln.
The first game is today and the Otago Sparks have 10 players named in a 14-strong South Island squad.
Sparks all-rounder Hayley Jensen will captain the side which includes provincial team-mates Emma Black, Caitlin Blakely, Anna Browning, Eden Carson, Olivia Gain, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Louisa Kotkamp and PJ Watkins.
The North Island boast White Ferns Maddy Green, Jess Kerr, Fran Jonas and Hannah Rowe.
But the South Island have plenty of international talent. The Sparks dominated the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield this season and will lean on White Ferns trio Inglis, Jensen and Carson to create problems for the North.
Recent White Ferns debutants Emma McLeod, Flora Devonshire and Bree Illing will strengthen an already star-studded lineup for the Northerners.
The South Island squad boasts two recent White Ferns of their own in James and Canterbury’s Izzy Sharp.
The North v South series was re-established in 2022-23 with the aim of bridging the gap between domestic and international cricket. — APL
