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Tom Blundell’s sore hamstring has ended his series. The wicketkeeper-batter pulled up while batting on the opening day at Hagley Oval and has been ruled out of the second Test against West Indies, which begins at the Basin Reserve on 10 December.
That leaves 25-year-old Mitch Hay, uncapped in Tests but already capped 19 times in white-ball cricket, next in line. He averages just under 50 in first-class matches and is in the middle of a Plunket Shield game for Canterbury in Napier. He will play the first two days there, then head south to join the national squad in Wellington.
Canterbury have called in rookie keeper Jesse Frew to cover Hay for days three and four. The move keeps everyone on the park without too much disruption, a theme New Zealand have had to live with this week.
Nathan Smith sat out the second half of the Christchurch Test with a side strain, leaving the home side effectively a bowler short. Daryl Mitchell was already missing with a groin issue. Allrounder Glenn Phillips, fit again after two Plunket Shield rounds, is on standby for the capital.
With Blundell off the field, Tom Latham picked up the gloves and the captaincy – not an easy double. He took four catches in the first innings, then produced 145 from 250 balls to stretch a 64-run advantage into something far safer. During that knock he quietly became only the fifth New Zealander to score 6,000 Test runs.
“[The body is] not too bad,” Latham said to the host broadcaster at stumps on day three. “I’ll try to get the recovery but a really good day and pleased to be in the position we are.”
He added, “I guess that [Smith’s injury] is another thing but that hampers the decision [declaration] but it was nice to see a little bit of spin out there when we were batting and that’s an encouraging sign. We’ll chip in when a man goes down and the guys are looking to put a big shift in.”
New Zealand eventually called time on 466 for 8, setting the tourists 531. It always felt enough, even on a surface still obliging the quicks.
Meanwhile, fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has quietly slipped back into red-ball cricket for Auckland in the Plunket Shield, his first competitive long-form outing since back soreness stopped his tour of India last month. Early reports are positive: pace respectable, bounce as awkward as ever, overs managed with care. If the body holds up, he could re-enter the Test picture later in the summer.
So, a rough week for the home dressing-room physio, but opportunities too. Hay looks ready; Phillips waits in the wings; Jamieson is moving again. Wellington will provide the next set of answers.
