New Zealand captain Tom Latham has been ruled out of the first Test against Zimbabwe, starting July 30 at Bulawayo. He injured his finger while fielding ‘during a T20 match for Birmingham’, as an official statement confirmed. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has also confirmed that Latham will be with the squad, and his injury will be monitored and assessed before the second Test to determine his availability.
In the meantime, Mitchell Santner has been announced as the new captain. He serves as the white-ball captain and is now set to become the 32nd Test captain of New Zealand. Recently, he led the national team to victory in a tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa. After Santner’s appointment, head coach Rob Walter mentioned that Latham’s leadership will be missed, but believes that the captaincy is in safe hands.
“It’s hugely disappointing for Tom to be missing the first Test, as captain but also as an integral part of the team. 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,” Walter said while talking about Latham
“Mitch did a wonderful job with the T20 squad in this recent series. 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,” Walter said on Santner’s appointment.
New Zealand squad for 1st Test
Mitch Santner (c), Tom Blundell, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Matt Fisher, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Michael Bracewell, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Will Young, Tom Latham