Black Caps continue trend of not selecting specialist test spinner at home

ANALYSIS: The Black Caps will end their summer having gone 13 home tests without selecting a specialist spinner.

Head coach Gary Stead said this week the same squad used for New Zealand’s miraculous one-run win over England at the Basin Reserve would remain for the two-test series versus Sri Lanka.

New Zealand’s only spin-bowling option to face the tourists – the first test starts at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval on Thursday – is allrounder Michael Bracewell.

The offspinner has yet to fully convince with the ball or bat, despite some handy performances in his brief test career.

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Yet while the hosts continue to persevere with not using a specialist slow bowler, opposing sides have been successful of late in doing so.

England left-armer Jack Leach took eight wickets in the memorable encounter in Wellington, while Keshav Maharaj claimed four wickets in South Africa’s series-leveling victory at Hagley Oval last March.

The last time the Black Caps employed a specialist spinner in a home test was in February 2020, when Ajaz Patel trundled down six wicket-less overs in a 10-wicket win over India at the Basin Reserve.

The hosts have won eight of their 11 tests since then, with Mitchell Santner or Bracewell the allrounder spin bowling options.

That may indicate it’s a tactic worth sticking with – but there’s a notable qualifier now.

The majority of those home victories came courtesy of a fully-firing quick bowling arsenal of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson, with medium-pace support from Colin de Grandhomme.

Boult is currently not playing test cricket, Jamieson faces another lengthy spell sidelined by a stress fracture injury in his back, and de Grandhomme has retired from international cricket.

Despite the weakening of the fast-bowling stocks, the selectors decided legspinner Ish Sodhi – chosen in the squad for the opening test against England in Mount Maunganui but not selected in the XI – is surplus to requirements. So is Patel, who played both drawn tests against Pakistan with moderate returns.

Sodhi took 13 wickets in the two-test series in Pakistan at 25.15 after a four-year absence from the test side, with an economy rate of 3.17 and a strike rate of 47.4.

In his six tests since debuting away to England last year – four against the ultra-aggressive English batting approach – Bracewell has captured 18 wickets at 44.94, with an economy rate of 4.18 and a strike rate of 64.5.

England were particularly bold against him in their fourth-innings chase at the Basin, with Bracewell conceding 73 runs from 17 overs without a wicket.

Leach bowled 78.3 overs in Wellington on a pitch that offered as much assistance for spin as it did seam, and there should be a concern that if the Black Caps are again involved in a test which goes deep into the fifth day, Bracewell may not be the ideal bowler to deliver a long, testing spell.

With Will Young added to the XI for the second test versus England, Bracewell dropped to No.8 in the batting order – a spot normally occupied by a specialist bowler.

The left-handed batter has made 224 test runs at 20.36, with one half-century. Sodhi, who notched up a test-best 65 in Pakistan, now has a test batting average of 22.78.

In New Zealand’s three tests last summer they played at Hagley Oval, there wasn’t even a spot in the side for a spin-bowling allrounder, as they won back-to-back matches versus Bangladesh and South Africa before falling to the Proteas.

Sri Lankan will likely select left-armer Prabath Jayasuriya in their XI, while they also feature part-time offspinners Ramesh Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis in their squad.