‘Rookie’ Black Caps pace quartet fight for test spots against West Indies

Wednesday, 26 November 2025

Black Caps star Kane Williamson has announced his retirement from Twenty20 international cricket.

ANALYSIS: Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be pace bowlers.

Unless you’re going to be accepting of the injury toll on your son - if you can deal with that, chances are he’ll be twice as likely to get a Black Caps test cap than a specialist batter.

Missing from the New Zealand squad for the first test against the West Indies starting on Tuesday are injured quicks Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears and Matt Fisher, while Kyle Jamieson has been left out as he continues to work towards ‘red-ball fitness’ after recovering from two back stress fractures in recent seasons.

Those absentees have created room for Nathan Smith, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes and Blair Tickner to seek a place in the XI at Hagley Oval in Christchurch alongside pace spearhead Matt Henry.

That quartet have played just eight tests combined, compared to Henry’s 32.

They’re among the 13 pace bowlers who have played test cricket for the Black Caps since 2023, as injuries and retirements have taken their toll.

Zak Foulkes took nine wickets on his test debut for New Zealand earlier this year.

Neil Wagner and Tim Southee have retired, while Doug Bracewell’s most recent test was in March 2023 and Scott Kuggeleijn’s third test appearance - against Australia in March 2024 - appears destined to be his last.

Sears made his debut against our trans-Tasman rivals in that same series, but a series of injuries have kept him out of selection contention since.

Tickner, 32, made his test debut against England in February 2023, took 12 wickets in three matches, and yet seemed highly unlikely to extend his test career - with personal circumstances playing a major part - until an ODI recall late last month sparked an international revival.

O'Rourke set a New Zealand record with nine wickets on test debut against the sub-strength South African side in February 2024, while Smith, 27, debuted versus England towards the end of last year.

In August this year, injuries suffered by the above duo in the first test in Zimbabwe ensured the Black Caps played three debutants in the second test, with Foulkes stealing the spotlight from Fisher and Duffy by pushing O’Rourke off top rookie spot when returning match figures of 9-75.

While the Black Caps have used 12 pace bowlers since Tickner’s debut, they’ve employed only seven specialist batters.

Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell have been the basis of the batting order, while Will Young and Henry Nicholls have been the only others to get a look-in during those 21 tests.

Ravindra, 26, is the only player in that batting group younger than 33.

While the current pace bowling crop - including those not available for red-ball selection - have played 72 tests between them, the batting septet have amassed 352 test appearances.

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