Cricket: Hunt for man in middle

Ross Taylor. File photo / Christine Cornege

Beyond the regular comings and goings in the New Zealand cricket limited overs squads, the most important problem to solve is who bolsters the middle order in place of the injured Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder for the upcoming series against Zimbabwe.

The pair's absence has seen the shock elevation of Canterbury 19-year-old Tom Latham to the one-day ranks and the more predictable rise of former Zimbabwe age-group representative Colin de Grandhomme into the Twenty20 realm.

Latham and de Grandhomme will likely fill one of those two spots in the respective ODI and T20 orders with Dean Brownlie or Kane Williamson the candidates to fill the other. That leaves a shuffling of stand-in skipper Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Rob Nicol to make up the top three.

The message the selection sends to players outside the squads is also telling. BJ Watling and Kruger van Wyk are still considered longer form cricketers, judging by their omissions. The fact Brendon McCullum takes back the gloves is significant, but on batting alone the pair might have been considered to hold some sway.

Auckland's consecutive HRV Cup wins have been rewarded with three of the six new caps: de Grandhomme (T20), Michael Bates (ODI and T20) and Roneel Hira (T20). T20 finalists Canterbury get two: Andrew Ellis and Latham (both in the ODI squad) while Central Districts' Tarun Nethula gets a well-telegraphed run in the one-day ranks.

Of the omissions, left-armer Andy McKay's international future looks bleak at 31. He was rated the third best bowler under the HRV Cup's MVP system behind Hira and Nicol.

Instead fellow left-armer Bates (28) has been picked in both squads after taking 14 wickets at 20.85 in the HRV Cup; the most wickets, equal with Hira, in the competition. At 34, Graeme Aldridge's one chance for national selection may have been and gone with the tour to Zimbabwe.

Newly selected leg spinner Nethula gets a chance for international competition. Left-arm orthodox spinner Luke Woodcock slips out of the frame.

NZ squads

ODI squad: Brendon McCullum (c), Michael Bates, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Andrew Ellis, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tarun Nethula, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson.

Twenty20 squad: McCullum (c), Bates, Bracewell, Brownlie, Colin de Grandhomme, James Franklin, Guptill, Roneel Hira, Nathan McCullum, Mills, Nicol, Oram, Southee, Williamson.