New Zealand Fast Bowler Blair Tickner To Make His Debut Against England In The First Test At Bay Oval

New Zealand skipper Tim Southee confirmed that fast bowler Blair Tickner will make his Test debut against England in the first Test starting on Thursday, February 16. The Black Caps will host a two-match series against the Three Lions. The series, however, is not a part of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle.

The 29-year-old gets a chance in the absence of pace bowlers Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry. Jamieson has been ruled out of the Test series due to an injury. On the other hand, Henry will miss the first Test at Bay Oval for the birth of his first child. Tickner will join Southee and Neil Wagner in the pace bowling attack.

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Uncapped pacers Jacob Duffy and Scott Kuggeleijn have also found a place in the 14-man squad for the opening day-night Test against England, and they will join the team in Mount Maunganui.

It’ll Be A Pretty Good Surface – Tim Southee

During a pre-match news conference on Wednesday, Tim Southee said that the final XI is yet to be confirmed and that Tickner is certain to play. Jacob Duffy and Scott Kuggeleijn will have to wait for their chance. One of them will make his debut if New Zealand chooses to use four pace bowlers.

“We’ll wait and see how the wicket shapes up tomorrow. A whole lot of things factor into it – the first day-night test here, having a cyclone two days before a test match … the groundsmen are reasonably happy with how the wicket is … I imagine it’ll be a pretty good surface,” Southee said.

Blair Tickner has represented New Zealand in nine ODIs and 17 T20 internationals. The right-arm fast bowler picked up 13 and 16 wickets, respectively, with an economy rate slightly on the high side. He played 61 first-class matches and took 178 wickets at an average of 35.17.

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