Kyle Jamieson to miss Black Caps’ start of new World Test Championship against West Indies

Monday, 24 November 2025

Star Black Caps seamer Kyle Jamieson has not been considered ready for next week’s first test against the West Indies, but the door remains open for him to still feature in the series.

Coach Rob Walter has unveiled a 14-man squad for the start of New Zealand’s new World Test Championship campaign, though it has only been named for the opening match, in Christchurch, starting next Tuesday.

It features the inclusion of star batter Kane Williamson, as well as a recall for paceman Blair Tickner, whose three tests to date came in early 2023.

Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy, fresh off debuts in the Black Caps’ last test outing, in Zimbabwe in August, are the likely starting seamers alongside pack leader Matt Henry and all-rounder Nathan Smith, as Jamieson takes a cautious road back to the test arena.

The towering 2.03m right-armer played all eight white-ball matches against the Windies this month, and, showcasing his customary steep bounce and hooping swing, was the leading wicket-taker in the ODIs (seven at an average of 20). But his return to red-ball work will be a carefully-managed affair following his recent injury-history.

Jamieson suffered back stress fractures in early 2023 (which required surgery) and again 12 months later (which didn’t require surgery), before being back in the international arena in February at the Champions Trophy.

But the 30-year-old has still not played a first-class match since the last of his 19 tests, against South Africa in Mt Maunganui in February 2024, when that second stress fracture was discovered.

Jamieson missed the winter Zimbabwe tour due to the birth of his first child, but was never actually going to be in consideration for the two tests there.

“We’ve been building the blocks on his conditioning and his bowling, step-by-step,” Walter said.

“So the first step was a T20, the second step was some ODI cricket, and back-to-back ODI cricket, the next step will be some Plunket Shield four-day cricket. And so we’ll work our way through.

“From a long-term point of view, Kyle’s massively important to us, so we won’t do anything or make any decision to jeopardise the long-term plan of his involvement in the team.”

Jamieson, who burst onto the test scene in early 2020 and has 80 wickets at 19.73, bowled 41.5 overs across the eight Windies white-ball games, but Walter wouldn’t specify exactly how much loading he’d need before coming into test contention.

He is likely to play in the next round of the Plunket Shield, from Wednesday to Saturday, for Canterbury against Otago in Dunedin, in a fixture which will also feature Glenn Phillips, in his second game back from a long layoff with a groin injury.

The off-spinning all-rounder was the other player Walter was specifically leaving the door open to, with the third test at the historically more turn-friendly Bay Oval a likely target.

“It’s just taking a care point of view of the player, that they are happy and comfortable and confident and they can go into a test match,” the coach said of managing the duo’s return to the five-day format.

This week’s second round of the Plunket Shield will be further boosted by half a dozen of the Black Caps squad, with captain Tom Latham to also turn out for Canterbury, Wellington duo Tom Blundell and Michael Bracewell to square off with Will Young and Tickner (Central Districts) at the Basin Reserve, while Williamson will have a hit in his Mt Maunganui backyard for Northern Districts against Auckland.

The casually-contracted former skipper, who announced his international T20 retirement on the eve of the Windies series, then also skipped the ODIs, is unlikely to have been sitting too idle, as he eyes his first tests in close to 12 months, and only tests before next winter.

“If you know Kane, he’ll find a way to hit balls, so I have no doubt he has, and he’ll be raring to go,” Walter said.

Another key part of the batting order, the in-form Daryl Mitchell (the new No 1 in the ODI world rankings) is on track for the first test as he recovers from the groin muscle tear sustained during his century in the opening ODI win at Hagley Oval last Sunday.

“The signs are positive that he’s tracking in the right direction,” Walter said. “He’ll have a full fitness test when we come together before the test two days out.”

Meanwhile, Walter revealed Will O’Rourke, who sustained a back stress fracture in the first test against Zimbabwe in August and was duly ruled out for at least three months, was healing well but would at this stage not be looked at by the Black Caps until February-March, which would rule him out of January’s white-ball series in India as well as the T20 World Cup.

One-test quicks Ben Sears (hamstring) and Matt Fisher (shin) were also not considered, both set to return to domestic duty when the Super Smash starts after Christmas.

Black Caps squad for first test

Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.

West Indies squad for test series

Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican, Alick Athanaze, John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Brandon King, Johann Layne, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Ojay Shields.

Fixtures

1st test: December 2-6 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch

2nd test: December 10-14 at Basin Reserve, Wellington

3rd test: December 18-22 at Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui