Amidst the Indian Premier League 2019, the New Zealand Cricket Board was smart in arranging a short series with Australia. It will serve as the preparation of ICC World Cup 2019. The left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham will be leading the side in 3-match Unofficial ODI series.
However, only five International players, who are in the scheme of things for the ICC World Cup 2019 will be in the upcoming series. The remaining regular players are busy with their commitments. A few of them in the Indian Premier League 2019 and other in the county season.
In between, this would be the perfect opportunity for the youngsters to showcase their talent and press their case for the upcoming grand event. The team got Tom Latham, James Neesham. Henry Nicholls, Matt Henry and Tom Blundell, who are the regulars, playing in the unofficial ODI series.
Meanwhile, the likes of Tim Seifert, Corey Anderson and Adam Milne who are injured, have not been considered. Apart from those 5 players, Doug Bracewell and Todd Astle will be playing in the three-match series. Both of them narrowly missed the cut for the world cup.
It is an exciting challenge – Gavin Larsen
The three-match series will be played in Brisbane as preparation for the World cup 2019. The games will be played at the Allan Border Fields, on May 5, 7 and 9. The players will be the standby players for the ICC World Cup 2019 in a case of injuries to the key players before or during the course of the tournament.
Speaking of the 3-match series, the New Zealand selector Larsen quoted that this would be the perfect opportunity for the youngsters to show their skills for the board. Further, he believes that the series would serve as good preparation for ICC World Cup 2019.
“It’s an exciting challenge ahead of this group. I know they will relish the chance to take on the Australians at home,” Gavin Larsen, New Zealand’s chief selector, said. “The matches will be a stern test. They provide quality preparation for those players bound for England. And also, a great opportunity for the rest of the squad to show their wares.”
Well, as Larsen said, it would be good preparation for the upcoming grand event. As the ICC World Cup 2019 is a long tournament, probably, the standby players would get a call as a replacement during the progress.