{"id":372594,"date":"2024-03-03T21:50:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T22:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=372594"},"modified":"2024-03-04T01:04:40","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T01:04:40","slug":"shortest-retirement-ever-ruled-out-as-debut-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=372594","title":{"rendered":"'Shortest retirement ever' ruled out as debut looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Sears looks set to make his Test debut for the Black Caps<\/a> against Australia in Christchurch this week.<\/p>\n

It comes after fast bowler Will O'Rourke suffered a hamstring strain in New Zealand's recent 172-run loss at the Basin Reserve in Wellington<\/a>.<\/p>\n

O'Rourke was midway through his run-up in the second innings on the morning of day three when he pulled up suddenly and left the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The inclusion of Sears ends speculation Neil Wagner could make a shock return to the squad.<\/p>\n

The recently retired bouncing machine announced his exit prior to the first Test after being omitted from the team.<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Black Caps confirmed he would be released from the squad ahead of the second Test.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, speculation quickly grew out of Wellington when O'Rourke came down injured, prompting Australian captain Pat Cummins to call Wagner back into the squad in the "world's shortest retirement".<\/p>\n

"We didn't get there with it," Black Caps head coach Gary Stead said of a Wagner comeback.<\/p>\n

"He had made his decision. He was comfortable with it. We reconsidered a number of things but we thought in this case that the pace of Ben Sears and what he's brought to us and international cricket so far is the difference that we needed.<\/p>\n

"Neil had a fitting send-off last night with the team. They celebrated everything he's done and Neil was happy with the decision of where he's got to around that as well."<\/p>\n

\"Kane<\/p>\n

Sears joins the team with 58 wickets in first class cricket from his 19 appearances at an average of 27.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old made his international debut in 2021 with the Black Caps in a T20 international.<\/p>\n

"He hasn't had hamstring injury in the past," said Stead of O'Rourke.<\/p>\n

"Disappointing for Will and disappointing for us because I thought he bowled fantastically well and for a guy that's so young in his Test career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"It looks like the Australians were certainly respecting him in the way that they're playing him. I thought his spell before he got injured was absolutely outstanding. He'll be a big loss for us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Ben Sears for us as the closest I guess like-for-like replacement that we thought we could find. We wanted someone with some genuine pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Ben's done that, he's had recent international success against Australia as well which was part of the decision-making and in going with him as the replacement for Will."<\/p>\n

\"William<\/p>\n

O'Rourke omission isn't the only blow for the Black Caps. Opening batter Devon Conway will undergo surgery on his left thumb this week, keeping him out of the second Test.<\/p>\n

Conway was keeping in the T20 series when he suffered the fracture. Surgery will mean he is sidelined for up to eight weeks.<\/p>\n

Henry Nicholls, who was called up in Conway's absence, will remain in the squad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Australia has a chance to win the Test series against New Zealand in the second hit-out, which begins on Friday in Christchurch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben Sears looks set to make his Test debut for the Black Caps against Australia in Christchurch this week. It comes after fast bowler Will […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":372599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372594"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=372594"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372614,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372594\/revisions\/372614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/372599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=372594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=372594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=372594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}