Colin de Grandhomme to miss ODI series for New Zealand after father’s death

New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme has pulled out himself from the New Zealand One-day International squad of the three-match series which is scheduled to kick off on December 20 at Cobham Oval in Whangarei after his father Laurence de Grandhomme passed away in Zimbabwe.

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The Ndola-born Laurence died at the age of 61, as he played 16 first-class fixtures for Zimbabwe and eight List A matches. With his off-spin bowling, he bagged 30 wickets in the domestic fold between 1979 and 1989.

It’s pertinent to mention that Windies has already lost the Test series 2-0 before going into the limited-overs series.
According to the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) release, it is not clear when the promising professional in the form of Grandhomme is expected to return.

Interestingly, the 31-year-old batting all-rounder was born in Harare and the sudden death of his forcing the player to fly to Zimbabwe – to perform the last rites.

Following the bereavement, Grandhomme is said to be with his family in Zimbabwe which further saw the Kiwis national selector extending his condolences to the passionate cricketer.

“This is obviously extremely sad news for Colin and his family and we’re all thinking of them at the moment,” New Zealand’s selector Gavin Larsen was quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

It becomes important to state that Grandhomme has been playing an imperative role in his early days of international cricket for the Black Caps which further boosted the morale of the team.

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On the other side, fast bowler Doug Bracewell, who was asked to serve the community for 100 hours in May, early this year after consuming alcohol which further saw him driving his car for the third time around. He has further been named as the replacement of Grandhomme for the impending series.

In October 2016, Bracewell played his last ODI in India and would be aiming to shred the bad image with his quality performances while being on the national duty.

Since making his international debut in February 2012, Grandhomme represented the Kiwis in 12 ODIs, 11 Twenty20 Internationals and eight Tests. He has the solitary hundred to his name which came against Windies during the recently-concluded series.

Across formats, the right-arm medium fast bowler has collected 31 wickets so far in the top-flight cricket.