Adam Milne, the New Zealand fast bowler, who injured his foot before the first One-Day International (ODI) against the Windies at Whangareiand, has been ruled out of the remainder of the 50-over series and the subsequent T20I series versus the Caribbean side. The 25-year-old landed badly on his left foot and is being evaluated by New Zealand Cricket.
The right-armer did not play the game which the home side won by five wickets. However, with Tim Southee being rested for the next two ODIs, Milne had a good opportunity to make it to the XI. Seth Rance, the Central Districts bowler, has been named as the replacement.
Rance has played a couple of ODIs for New Zealand, but is yet to make his T20I debut. According to Gavin Larsen, the New Zealand selector, Rance is ready to represent the country in both the 50-over as well as 20-over cricket.
“Seth comes into the squad off the back of consistently strong domestic performances,” Larsen said. “We were already looking at Seth for the upcoming Twenty20 series, so this just brings him into the squad slightly earlier than anticipated.
“Adam has a great work ethic and puts a lot into his fitness, so I certainly feel for him with this injury. It’s a long summer and there’s a lot of cricket left for Adam to play, so we’ll work with him to get him back to full fitness,” he added.
Rance had good outings in the domestic four-day competition. He picked up 12 wickets in three games at 20.08 in the Plunket Shield. However, he returned with only two scalps in the Super Smash – New Zealand’s domestic T20 tournament.
