Santner in contention to play in NZ’s second Test vs England: Stead

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead on Monday said left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner is in contention to play in the second Test against England at Wellington.

Santner took 13 wickets in his last Test as New Zealand won by 113 runs over India in Pune to secure the historic series win. After Santner missed out on the last Test of the tour due to a side strain, he was included in the squad for New Zealand’s second and third Tests against England in Wellington and Hamilton, respectively.

“That’s the likely big decision to make. I guess Mitch’s selection is on the back of what happened in Wellington last (season) with it being very, very spin-friendly. But we will monitor that when we get up there and have a look,” said Stead to reporters.

New Zealand lost the series opener to England by eight wickets at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, where tons of dropped catches and poor run of opener Devon Conway and wicketkeeper Tom Blundell came under the scanner. But Stead has backed the duo to get big runs in the remaining two matches.

“We’ve got a lot of faith in Tom Blundell. Glenn Phillips has done an amazing job batting with the tail as well, and has become really adept at that. Tom Blundell played some critical innings for us ... and we think he’s our man to keep coming right, and we have a lot of faith that he will do so.”

“Everyone wants more all the time. I think opening in New Zealand conditions can be some of the toughest conditions in the world to play. Devon’s a class player, and you don’t lose that class over a week, a month. He wants more, don’t get me wrong, but we still have a lot of faith in the way that Dev plays,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, after hitting an unbeaten 50 off 37 balls, including smashing the winning runs, in England’s 8-wicket win in the first Test, batter Jacob Bethell said he would have asked to bat at No.3 on debut if he wasn’t given the surprise invitation by the team think-tank.

“No. I mean maybe a surprise (on one level), but I would have asked for it to be honest. I like batting up the order. So yeah, I was really happy that the opportunity arose. It was everything I dreamed of. Ever since I was a little kid I’ve always dreamed of playing Test cricket.”

“I’ve always wanted to bat in the top 4 so three is perfect. I think my game is fit to play any style. We saw a bit more of an attacking style (in the second innings), but I can also absorb a bit of pressure. I’m sure at times in my career there will be times to do that as well.”

“I remember watching the 2010/11 Ashes and wanting to be a part of it. Since Baz (Brendon McCullum) took over, I’ve watched on TV and thought, ‘How fun does that look?’ and it lived up to the expectation,” said Bethell to reporters.

Asked if he had doubts in his mind on coming good in Tests after making white-ball debuts in September, Bethell remarked, “Not at all really. Pretty much every time I’ve played against better people, I’ve played better. The step up to The Hundred? Played better. Straight into internationals? Played better. I didn’t really doubt in my mind that coming into Test cricket I’d have done well.”

“No matter if we were in the sheds talking with each other, batting, bowling, fielding it was good fun. It was my first experience playing in front of packed grass banks, pristine outfield, good pitches and playing against a good team, so it was great.”

Bethell signed off by expressing excitement over being signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, where he will be teammates with the talismanic Virat Kohli.

Agencies