Cricket: Henry Cooper ready for West Indies challenge

Whangarei's Henry Cooper is relishing the opportunity to take on the West Indies on his home ground, Cobham Oval. PHOTO/PHOTOSPORT.NZ

Whangarei's Henry Cooper will be lining up against an international bowling attack potentially including Jason Holder and Shannon Gabriel on his home ground.

Cooper was named in the New Zealand XI to take on the West Indies in a warm-up one day fixture ahead of their ODI series against the Black Caps, starting at Cobham Oval on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old is itching for the start of tomorrow'smatch.

"I'm really excited, to take on an international side. You can't help but buzz on the thought of playing a full strength West Indies side at my home ground in Whangarei," he said.

"They obviously have quality bowlers with good pace. There's going to be nerves against any opposition when wearing the silver fern but it is a good chance to test myself against the best.

"The excitement levels are outweighing the nerves."

Cooper could be lining up against a host of well-known names including Holder, Gabriel, Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels.

The prospect of sending an over down to the latter two, renowned for their ability to clear the fence, is a little daunting but Cooper said it's good for the fans.

"Depends if I bowl or not! No, I think it's good for cricket in general and especially for spectators on Saturday if they play," he said.

"It would be pretty cool to say I have played against those guys when you see them doing so well around the world."

The NZ XI is made up of domestic players not currently involved in the Super Smash. While the match is a warm-up fixture for the West Indies, the New Zealand players will be looking to press their claims.

Cooper said victory is in their plans.

"The goal for the match would definitely be to beat them," he said.

"It would be easy to put a value like a certain amount of runs or wickets for the game but I want to learn as much as I can of people around me and in the opposition - and obviously score as many runs as possible."

The Onerahi Central opening batsman has enjoyed a good 2017 after picking up his first domestic contract with Northern Districts, lining up to play the West Indies and even having a sub-fielding stint with the Black Caps.

Cooper got onto Seddon Park in the recently completed test against the West Indies where a Ross Taylor century led the Black Caps to a 240-run victory.

He said he felt really welcome in the changing sheds.

"It was an awesome experience," he said.

"There's always the thought of dropping a catch on TV running through your head but all the boys were such good buggers it actually made me very relaxed.

"It was pretty cool to be a part of the dressing room after a comprehensive series win like that."

Cooper's focus following the West Indies fixture is to get more consistent playing time at domestic level after playing just the two Plunket Shield fixtures so far. He averaged 31.25 across those matches.

"First and foremost I want to be playing every format as a regular for Northern Districts. Then it's to perform and win games for them," he said.

"I think I have been pretty solid thus far. This year is more limited around my playing schedule so I haven't played as much cricket so far as previous years but I have put in a couple of good performances so far and hoping it continues."

The match starts at 11am at Cobham Oval with free entry for fans.

NZ XI: Jack Boyle (Canterbury), Henry Cooper (ND), Bharat Popli (ND), Sean Solia (Auckland), Fraser Colson (c) (Wellington), Michael Barry (Auckland), Mark Craig (Otago), Aniket Parikh (Auckland), Andrew Morrison (wk) (Auckland), Raja Sandhu (Auckland), Angus McKenzie (Auckland), Michael Rae (Otago).

West Indies (from): Jason Holder (captain), Jason Mohammed, Ronsford Beaton, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Kyle Hope, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Nikita Miller, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Kesrick Williams.