CDCA congratulates Ross Taylor, Ajaz Patel and, for the first time, former New Zealand Under-19 and Central Stags captain Will Young who have today all been named in the BLACKCAPS squad to play the first Test Series of 2018/19 against Sri Lanka.

Will Young’s call-up as batting cover for the Test squad comes on the heels of three New Zealand A centuries in the past six weeks, including a second one-day century at Bay Oval yesterday against a strong India A line-up.

Ajaz Patel earns his first home Test squad selection after outstanding performances on his rookie tour of UAE. The spinner took seven wickets for the match on debut, including his maiden five-wicket bag to win the first Test, and another five for the match to help wrap up the historic Series victory 2-1.

Patel’s performances were all the more impressive given he had only just received his maiden New Zealand A tour call-up this year, following three successive seasons as New Zealand’s top wicket-taker with the Central Stags in the Plunket Shield.

Hugely respected for both his prowess and spirit of cricket in the international arena, senior BLACKCAP Ross Taylor meanwhile continues to set benchmarks for others to aspire to, now having overtaken Stephen Fleming as the player to have scored the most runs for the BLACKCAPS across all three formats.

CEO Pete de Wet said there were cheers and high fives in the CDCA office when the news came through that 26-year-old Young had been named in the BLACKCAPS.

“Youngy is an outstanding person and player who has gone after his goals while always helping others in our environment as well.

“He made a difficult, mature decision to step down from the Central Stags captaincy after leading us to an unbeaten Plunket Shield championship last summer and so it’s been a delight to see his courage rewarded with outstanding performances for New Zealand A, and now a chance to contribute at the highest level.”

Young said that he was “over the moon” to receive the news from BLACKCAPS selector Gavin Larsen after yesterday evening’s intense second one-day match against India A, in which he scored a century.

Article added: Monday 10 December 2018