Eight months on from an injury that meant he missed the entire Kiwi summer of cricket, Will O’Rourke is back in Black Caps colours.
The 24-year-old hasn’t played professional cricket since July last year, when he suffered a stress fracture in his back against Zimbabwe that required surgery and a lengthy period of rehabilitation.
“The first three months it was sitting on the couch, not doing too much,” he said. “Since then, the last five months have been working on rehab and getting stronger.
“I’ve been bowling off the long run for the last few months now. You obviously always want to be out there, but these injuries happen, and it was probably always going to happen at some point.
“To sit on the sidelines and watch the boys have a good summer was pretty special, especially with the World Cup and the boys went well in the tests. It’s been a good summer to watch.”
But after having to watch the Black Caps’ all-format victories over the West Indies and run to the T20 World Cup final from the comfort of home, O’Rourke’s international return has now been given the green light.
The fast bowler has been named in the Black Caps’ one-day international squad for next month’s tour of Bangladesh, and will likely lead an attack missing Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson and Zak Foulkes – all on franchise duty in the Indian Premier League.
He’ll be joined on tour by the returning Blair Tickner and Matt Fisher, who have also worked their way back from injuries over the summer.
While his initial return will only be in ODIs, O’Rourke being available again will be huge for coach Rob Walter as the Black Caps prepare for their biggest year of test cricket in living memory.
Before the end of next summer, the Black Caps tour England and Australia, either side of India visiting Aotearoa, with a one-off against Ireland and home series against Sri Lanka for good measure.
As a fast bowler, O’Rourke is subject to one of the modern game’s great trade-offs. Test cricket is the format players want to play above all else, but white-ball cricket tends to lead to opportunities in the franchise world, and the financial rewards that follow.
Since his debut in 2024, O’Rourke was among the most active Black Caps at international level, as well as earning contracts with Indian Premier League side Lucknow Super Giants and English county Yorkshire.
Bangladesh is an easy landing back on to the international scene but O’Rourke makes no bones that he has one eye on England, the nation of his birth, and what lies beyond.
“Test cricket is probably the focal point of my game at the moment,” he said. “Every player wants to play all three [formats]. I love test cricket, it’s a special group to be part of, all the players love it so much.
“There’s a lot of test cricket on, that’s super exciting for us as players and the New Zealand public love that. First of all [I have to] put a decent performance out in Bangladesh, and hopefully push my name forward to England.
“It is an exciting year ahead.”
While O’Rourke wasn’t necessarily missed during the Kiwi summer, his return will make the Black Caps a better side.
His ability to deliver the ball from his 1.97m frame has seen him take 39 wickets in 11 tests, at an average of just under 25.
Further down the line, Kiwi fans and players would be forgiven for having Australia, and Australia alone, at the front of mind.
The Black Caps haven’t won a test across the ditch since 2011. You have to go back to 1985-86 for their last series win.
This year, as a sign of New Zealand’s standing, the Black Caps are Australia’s marquee series, with four tests – including Boxing Day in Melbourne and the New Year in Sydney.
Seven years ago, the Black Caps’ golden generation headed across the Tasman and despite all hopes otherwise, were beaten 3-0.
This time, New Zealand are arguably stronger, courtesy of their seam attack. Aside from O’Rourke, the Black Caps boast a core of quicks containing Henry, Jamieson, Duffy, Foulkes, Fisher, Tickner and Nathan Smith.
And with taking 20 wickets being the cornerstone of any test victory, O’Rourke is excited by the Black Caps’ strength in depth.
“Australia is probably the toughest place in the world to tour,” he said. “To go over there with good stocks, hopefully all the boys are healthy at that time, we’ve got a really good attack going into it.
“It’s really exciting the names we have; everyone knows how good Matt Henry’s been over the last few years. [Jamieson] hopefully comes back to test cricket, we know what his record’s like, he averages in the teens.
“We’ve got a lot of talent in the bowling stocks. If we can go over there fully fit, we’ve got a really good chance.”
ODI squad: Tom Latham (c), Muhammad Abbas, Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Dean Foxcroft, Nick Kelly, Jayden Lennox, Henry Nicholls, Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Will Young
T20 squad: Tom Latham (c), Katene Clarke, Kristian Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Matt Fisher, Dean Foxcroft, Bevon Jacobs, Nick Kelly, Jayden Lennox, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.