Cricket News By TODAYLIVESCORE.INFO - Jamieson to miss T20I series, Ferguson fit to play - Stead. Jamieson didn't get a game in the T20 WC.
Jamieson didn't get a game in the T20 WC.
Gary Stead, the New Zealand head coach, has confirmed on Wednesday (November 17) that Kyle Jamieson will also not feature in the three-match T20I series against India as he joins Kane Williamson and the rest of the Test specialists in the red-ball preparations ahead of the two-Test series.
Williamson's absence was confirmed on Tuesday, which has left Tim Southee with the captaincy duties for the T20 games. Williamson has been handling his workload apart from managing an elbow issue that has troubled him for a while. Meanwhile, Jamieson did not get a game in the T20 WC despite featuring in the squad and his absence from the upcoming T20 games suggests that he is set to play a key role in the bowling department for the two Test matches.
“We decided through talking with Kane and Kyle that they won't play in this T20 series,” Stead said ahead of the opening T20I. “They're both going to get ready for the Test matches and I think you'll probably find that the other guys involved in the Test matches who won't play in the entire series either. It's a bit of a balancing act at the moment and with three T20 games in five days plus travel to three different cities, it's a very, very busy time.”
New Zealand, though, will be boosted by the return of Lockie Ferguson, who is set to play in the T20 matches having missed the World Cup due to a right calf injury. “Lockie is likely to play tomorrow night, which is fantastic to get him back to playing again. He's recovered very well from his calf injury that he picked up at the very start of the World Cup. So exciting for him and exciting for our team to have him back in our attack,” said Stead, who added that all the players in the squad will get to play at some point in the series.
“You'll definitely see that the whole squad will get match time over here and again that's about us managing the workload of the players, especially with the Test matches coming up, which will be a real key priority for us as we work through the next week,” he added.
New Zealand's players who participated in the T20 WC, arrived in a chartered flight on Monday and joined the Test cricketers who have been in India for a while preparing for the World Test Championship matches. Stead said James Pammett, who has been part of the Mumbai Indians setup, has joined an already swelled up support staff to help the players.
“How our day works at the moment is that the Test players will go and train from 10 to 1 on the morning of the matches, we then go back and play the match in the evening, we travel the next day, then we repeat that for three games in a row.
“There's about 26 players and 16 or 17 support staff. Some guys will leave after a week, there will be a number that will head back home, staff and players, from the T20 group that we have had, but it's probably the biggest support team and player group that we've had together in one place, certainly in my time, and it makes it a little bit more challenging to get around everyone and support them and their needs,” said Stead.
