The Black Caps won’t take any risks over the fitness of fast bowler Kyle Jamieson, who will miss at least the first test against the West Indies.
The 30-year-old has not been included in New Zealand’s 14-man group for the series opener at Hagley Oval in Christchurch and will instead complete return-to-play protocols to build red-ball fitness.
As a result, the Black Caps’ test squad to face the West Indies has only been selected for the first test, to allow both Jamieson and Glenn Phillips – on the return from a groin injury – to prove their fitness for the rest of the series through the Plunket Shield.
Jamieson hasn’t played any form of red-ball cricket since February 2024, when he suffered a stress fracture in his back as the Black Caps defeated South Africa at Mount Maunganui.
And while the 2.03m fast bowler has made a successful return to cricket in the shorter formats, the Black Caps don’t want to risk further injuries to a player who has been limited to just 19 tests since his debut in early 2020.
Those 19 tests, though, have returned 80 wickets at a sublime average of just 19.73.
“You’ve got to take it step by step,” Black Caps coach Rob Walter said. “The first step was the T20s, the second was some ODI cricket. The next will be the Plunket Shield, four-day cricket.
“We’ll work our way through. But from a long-term point of view, Kyle is massively important to us.
“We won’t do anything or make any decision to jeopardise his long-term involvement with the team.”
To Jamieson’s credit, the non-selection is only down to fitness. Last week, he was named man of the series in New Zealand’s 3-0 One-Day International (ODI) sweep of the West Indies, in which he topped the wicket-taking chart.
Elsewhere, Walter outlined that fellow fast-bowler Will O’Rourke is also on the mend, after he too suffered a stress fracture in his back.
Initially, O’Rourke was to go through a strength and conditioning programme in the hope of being fit for the West Indies test series.
However, with O’Rourke still yet to play any form of cricket since July, that comeback has been pushed out to the start of 2026 at the earliest.
“He was going well,” Walter said of O’Rourke. “His timeline from that stress fracture is one we’re definitely not going to rush.
“He’s way too important to us over the long term. At this stage, it’s a February-March return.
“We’ll keep assessing where he’s at. He’s tracking very nicely, but we won’t be looking at him before then.”
Despite Jamieson and O’Rourke being absent, though, the Black Caps have still named a strong core of fast bowlers for Christchurch.
Matt Henry will lead the attack, having excelled in doing so since the retirements of Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
He’ll be supported by Zak Foulkes – who claimed the best figures by a New Zealander on test debut earlier this year – as well as Nathan Smith, Jacob Duffy and the returning Blair Tickner.
And on a surface where pace bowling has been most effective, Walter knows exactly what he wants to see.
“We’re hoping for a standard Hagley deck, which suits our bowling unit. There is variety there, which is great.
“They did a hell of a job in Zimbabwe, and we want to build on that – albeit a long time ago. But it is the same group of players with Ticks coming in.
“Those five fast bowlers are there to ultimately take care of the job in conditions that we hope will suit us.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.