Hamish Rutherford and Tom Latham, both sons of former New Zealand Test players, will vie for one of the opening slots in the opening Test against England in Dunedin. Bruce Martin, the 32-year-old left-arm spinner, could also make his debut although there remains a chance that New Zealand will field an all-pace attack.
Martin Guptill’s injuries – hamstring followed by thumb surgery – and Brendon McCullum’s decision to drop down to No. 5 have created two opening vacancies. Peter Fulton, 34, will take one of the slots following an impressive Plunket Shield tournament in which he made 902 runs at 56.37 to leave him as the second-highest scorer. He last played a Test in 2009 but was due to open against South Africa before the recurrence of a knee injury forced him home. Either of the uncapped left-handers will join him. Rutherford, 23, made his international debut in the Twenty20s against England and then replaced Guptill in the one-day squad. He has an overall first-class average of 42.42 and his previous three four-day innings for Otago, back in late January before he faced England, brought 90, 162 and 28. Latham, 20, the son of Rod who played four Tests, is a wicketkeeper-batsman – which means New Zealand could field three glovemen in their XI including McCullum and BJ Watling – who has played eight ODIs and three T20s.
