Mitchell Santner has been ruled out of the New Zealand tour of Africa, owing to a thumb fracture he picked during a training session ahead of the tour. Santner was training at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre in Christchurch when he picked the injury while fielding off his own bowling.
The 23-year-old was part of New Zealand’s limited overs side that recently toured England and displayed immense promise with both bat and ball. According to stuff.co.nz, Anton Devcich who would ideally have been first in line to replace Santner is also out of action due to injury. ALSO READ: Mitchell Santner, Grant Elliott awarded New Zealand central contracts
Hence, Santner’s place will be taken by Central Stags all-rounder George Worker who was the highest run-scorer in New Zealand’s domestic one-day tournament in the 2014-15 season. Moreover, like the man he’ll be replacing, Worker can even bowl decent amount of off-spin.
Mike Hesson, the Black Caps coach, expressed his disappointment that Santner couldn’t take part in the tour especially after an impressive debut tour in England earlier. “We feel for Mitch because he was really excited about this tour and we were looking forward to seeing him continue his development in international cricket,” Hesson said.
New Zealand’s limited overs Africa tour will commence on August 2nd with a short series in Zimbabwe prior to heading to the neighbouring South Africa for a slightly lengthier series. Kane Williamson has been chosen to lead in absence of Brendon McCullum who has been rested.
