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McMillan dropped for Bangladesh Tour |
WELLINGTON (New Zealand):
Flamboyant middle-order batsman Craig McMillan
has vowed to win back his Test place after being
cut from the New Zealand cricket team that will
play in Bangladesh next month.
McMillan was left out of the 14-man New Zealand
squad named Tuesday which will play two tests
against Bangladesh. He was replaced by Hamish
Marshall, who was previously regarded as a
one-day specialist.
Marshall has played only one previous test,
scoring 40 not out against South Africa in 2000,
but may now be groomed for Test play while
McMillan could be steered toward a one-day
career. “There are times when you get dropped
because of poor form, but I’ve been relatively
happy with my form in the last 12 to 18 months
in both forms of the game, so it was a surprise
to miss out,” McMillan said.
“But these things happen. I will just have to
try and force the selectors to change their
minds.” McMillan has averaged 40 in 52 Test
matches. “We’ve wanted to make some changes to
our middle order and Hamish has shown enough in
one-dayers for us to have a look at him in the
Test arena,” coach John Bracewell said.
“We are looking at options for the future. We
need two or three batters of international class
ready to go at any time.” Fast bowler Daryl
Tuffey has also been omitted from the New
Zealand squad because of an ongoing battle with
injury. Bracewell said New Zealand would not
take its matches against Bangladesh lightly.
“The indications are they are quite strong at
home,” he said.
“We are not taking any complacency into the
tests. We are taking the strongest possible
squad.”
New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain),
Nathan Astle, Ian Butler, James Franklin, Hamish
Marshall, Chris Martin, Brendan McCullum, Kyle
Mills, Jacob Oram, Michael Papps, Mark
Richardson, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori and
Paul Wiseman.
Itinerary:
Oct 14-16: Warmup match, Dhaka
Oct 19-23: 1st Test, Dhaka
Oct 26-30: 2nd Test, Chittagong
Nov 2: 1st ODI, Chittagong
Nov 5: 2nd ODI, Dhaka (Day/Night)
Nov 7: 3rd ODI, Dhaka (Day/Night).
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