The State Championship's top wicket-taker Iain O'Brien is back in the Black Caps, having not played test cricket since March 2005.
He will tour South Africa after Kyle Mills was forced out with injury.
O'Brien said he had a pleasant shock when he saw he had four missedcalls from Sir Richard Hadlee on his phone, and the good news came a few minutes later.
The Wellington seamer only played one-day cricket in the New Zealand A tour so he is looking forward to the longer form of the game.
He said the red ball is what he prefers so hopefully he can start bowling on some grass and get his rhythm back.
O'Brien has had some demanding training with the Wellington side and trained with the Army last week.
Apart from indoor cricket in 2000, O'Brien has never played in South Africa. O'Brien played two tests against Australia in 2005 and he took the most wickets in domestic four dayers last summer with 34 at an average of 20.85.
Meanwhile, Canterbury opening batsman Michael Papps is relishing being back for the Black Caps' first test matches in ten months.
Papps scored 1005 runs last year in domestic action at an average of 91.
28-year-old Papps has had few chances to press his claims, with injury and New Zealand's minimal test schedule.
The Black Caps leave for South Africa in just over a week.
