Fringe Otago seamer Nathan Smith has been named in one of two New Zealand teams which will play England in warm-up matches in Hamilton next week.
The fixtures will be played on March 14-15 and March 16-17 before the test series which gets under way in Auckland on March 22.
Black Caps Tom Latham and Martin Guptill will captain the teams which include a sprinkling of international players.
Smith has been selected for the two-day pink ball game. He has played nine first-class games, four one-dayers and two domestic twenty20 matches for Otago since making his debut as a 17-year-old in March, 2016.
Meanwhile, big-hitting Black Cap Colin Munro will no longer seek selection for test or four-day Plunket Shield cricket.
The 30-year-old, one of the finest T20 batsmen in the world, has played just the single test for New Zealand, against South Africa in early 2013. But he has played 39 one-day internationals and 45 T20 internationals.
Munro said yesterday he would focus on white-ball cricket from now on, both with the Black Caps and the Auckland Aces.
"I’m still 100% committed to playing for the Black Caps and Auckland Aces in the shorter formats and have some big goals I’d like to achieve," Munro said.
"Obviously with the World Cup next year, I’d love to give myself the best chance of making that squad and that’s where my main focus is."
As such, the Durban-born Munro will sit out the New Zealand XI’s upcoming pair of two-day warm-up matches against England in Hamilton.
"There’s a number of our front-line guys in there and this is a great opportunity for them to get ready for what is a huge test series," selector Gavin Larsen said.
"We’ve also selected a very strong group of fringe players around our current test group and this is a fantastic opportunity for them to challenge themselves against a very good international side."
Ross Taylor has been named in the red-ball side despite aggravating a thigh issue in Wednesday’s ODI win over England.
Tom Blundell, Scott Kuggeleijn, Seth Rance, Ish Sodhi and George Worker will play on all four days.
- Adrian Seconi and NZN
Black Caps
Warm-up teams
Red-ball squad (March 14-15): Martin Guptill (c), Logan van Beek, Tom Blundell, Doug Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Scott Kuggeleijn, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, George Worker.
Pink-ball squad (March 16-17): Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell, Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Scott Kuggeleijn, Henry Nicholls, Seth Rance, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Nathan Smith, Ish Sodhi, George Worker.
