Cricket: Lockie Ferguson to captain Black Caps in Bangladesh ODI Series

Lockie Ferguson (centre) will captain the Black Caps for the first time. Photo / Photosport

Lockie Ferguson is set to captain the Black Caps for the first time in an international fixture during the upcoming three match ODI Series against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Ferguson, who recently led the team in tour matches in England, will captain the side in the absence of regular ODI captain Kane Williamson as he continues to recover from knee surgery, and regular deputy Tom Latham - who will miss the series to have time at home before the ICC Cricket World Cup and Test tour to Bangladesh.

In another potential first, Dean Foxcroft has earned his maiden selection in a Black Caps ODI Squad fresh from his international T20 debut last month against the United Arab Emirates.

Along with Latham, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee were also left out of the squad, allowing them a short break to focus on, and prepare for, the World Cup tournament, for which they will assemble only 12 days after the start of the Bangladesh series.

Mark Chapman and Jimmy Neesham both weren’t considered for selection because the tour coincides with the arrival of or shortly after the birth of their first children, respectively.

The need to manage player workloads sees the squad feature an experienced core including five players from the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Squad and a group of players newer to One Day International cricket.

Coach Gary Stead said the busy nature of the touring schedule meant striking a balance was important.

“We have a very full schedule between now until the end of our tour to Pakistan in April including the World Cup and the start of the new World Test Championship cycle so trying to keep players and staff fresh and ready at the right times is paramount.”

“Balancing workloads also provides opportunities and it’s exciting to have different players in the group and learning in an environment like Bangladesh. It can be a challenging place to tour and getting used to different conditions quickly will be important over the next few months.”

Stead pointed to Lockie Ferguson’s chance to lead the side as an example of the opportunity presented by the series.

“Lockie is an experienced bowler at the international level, and this is an opportunity for him to really lead from the front with not just the bowling group but the team as a whole. He stepped into the role for the warm-up matches in England and led a group with a lot of moving parts well.”

Stead said Dean Foxcroft had earned his call up on the back of strong domestic form for the Otago Volts.

“Any time a player is selected for the first time it’s exciting and Dean’s shown as the Volts’ leading white ball run scorer last summer the talent he has. We were impressed with the way he came into the group with the T20 Squad, and this will be another great opportunity to keep learning in our environment.”

Regular Black Caps batting coach Luke Ronchi will lead the coaching group in Bangladesh as head coach with Shane Jurgensen in his usual role as bowling coach and Ian Bell continuing on from the ODI Series against England as batting coach.

Black Caps ODI Squad for Bangladesh

Lockie Ferguson (c)

Finn Allen

Tom Blundell

Trent Boult

Chad Bowes

Dane Cleaver

Dean Foxcroft*

Kyle Jamieson

Cole McConchie

Adam Milne

Henry Nicholls

Rachin Ravindra

Ish Sodhi

Blair Tickner

Will Young

*Uncapped in ODI cricket