NZ vs ENG 2018: Mitchell Santner Out of England Tests; BJ Watling Returns

New Zealand will miss the services of their in-form all-rounder, Mitchell Santner, during the two-match Test series against England, starting from March 22.

He is suffering from a knee injury, which has seen the comeback of Todd Astle in the side.

With likes of Mark Craig and Ishan Sodhi not in contention, Astle made a comeback to the Test team.

He played his last Test against Pakistan in the two-Test series at home in 2016.

BJ Watling, the regular wicketkeeper, has also made his comeback to the side, taking back his place from Tom Blundell.

Watling missed the Test series against the Windies due to a hip injury, and Blundell was called in as his  He scored a century on his debut and was in contention to be named after he scored 136 runs in the series.

However, the comeback of regular Watling meant Astle got dropped from the side,

“BJ [Watling] is a proven performer at Test level for us and brings a lot to the group both on and off the field. We’ve monitored BJ’s progress over the past few months, and it’s great to see him back with the gloves for Northern Districts. Tom Blundell did a great job in BJ’s absence, and we’ll keep working with him going forward,” Gavin Larsen, New Zealand’s chief selector said.

Kane Williamson will continue to lead the team which has likes of Jeet Raval, Tom Latham, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Ross Taylor.

Taylor is yet to be declared 100% fit and the team is sweating on his fitness. He will not take part in the second practice game between New Zealand XI and England, which starts on March 16.

Before that, the first practice game will be played with a pink ball from March 14 to 15, which will give an ideal practice to the players before the first Test.

The first game of the series will be played with a pink ball. Both the teams have played one Test each with a pink ball in the past. Though, this will be the first time when New Zealand will play a day/night Test at home.

The second Test match of the series will start on March 30, to be played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.

New Zealand squad: Jeet Raval, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (Captain), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, BJ Watling, Todd Astle, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Matt Henry, Trent Boult.