John Wright has an eye on the longer format and is confident with the squad he has picked.
Rob Nicol and Andrew Ellis are the two new caps included in the 13 man squad, as well as a recall for Northern Knights bowler Brent Arnel.
Wright believes the selection of the two new Cantabrians is justified and is happy with the squad as a whole.
“Nicol’s been playing pretty well. It’s an opportunity for him to open or bat down the order, which he has done before,” said Wright.
“We’ve tried to pick the best Test batting line-up we can.”
Rightfully so. The South Africa bowling attack has already shown their class and Wright admits it’s important the batting line-up has some depth, something which made the selection process considerably harder.
In-fact if it hadn’t been for the need of a strengthened batting line-up Tarun Nethula may have been the third player lining up his debut.
“He’s certainly put his name forward. I thought he bowled pretty well the other day.”
“We’ve gone with four seamers in our last two Tests, and we will have to look at that, because what that does is gives us great opportunity with the ball, but we also need some runs, we’re playing South Africa, they’re a strong bowling side.”
The series begins March 7 in Dunedin.