Wellington's Ben Sears Photo: PHOTOSPORT
After just one game back for Wellington, fast bowler Ben Sears returns to the Black Caps lineup for next month's Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Sears returned to cricket last week following a knee injury he suffered in last April's T20 tour of Pakistan.
The 26-year-old was ruled out of November's Test series in India and subsequently missed the first half of the New Zealand home international summer due to the injury.
Sears along with fellow pace bowlers Will O'Rourke and Nathan Smith are set to embark on their maiden senior ICC event.
The selections of O'Rourke and Smith caps off a breakthrough period for the pair who have become regular contributors to the Black Caps across formats in recent seasons.
Batsmen Kane Williamson and Devon Conway also return to the side which will be lead by Mitchell Santner.
Santner will lead New Zealand at a major event for the first time, after being named full-time white ball captain last month.
Santner is selected as the frontline spin option, alongside all-rounders Michael Bracewell, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra. Tom Latham will take the wicketkeeping gloves for the tournament.
Santner, Williamson and Latham were all part of the New Zealand squad for the last edition of the Champions Trophy in England and Wales in 2017, while Williamson also featured at the 2013 edition.
Matt Henry will spearhead the pace bowling attack which is further bolstered by the experienced Lockie Ferguson who embarks on his fifth ICC event having played a key role in the last two ICC ODI and T20I World Cups.
Pace bowler Jacob Duffy has been named as the squad's stand-by player, to be included should Lockie Ferguson become unavailable because of ILT20 play-off commitments.
The Champions Trophy, which returns to the pinnacle ICC event calendar after an eight-year hiatus, will be contested by the top eight men's ODI teams.
New Zealand won the 2000 version of the tournament when it was known as the ICC KnockOut Trophy, defeating Sourav Ganguly's India by four-wickets in a thrilling final in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Black Caps, who have reached the semi-final or further in four out of their last five major ICC events, have been drawn in Group A of the Champions Trophy alongside hosts Pakistan, and Bangladesh and India, with only two sides able to progress.
New Zealand bowler Lockie Ferguson Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Coach Gary Stead said the squad was a talented one with good depth.
"We're currently blessed with a lot of quality players and that certainly made for some challenging selection discussions.
"Ultimately, we've gone with the squad that will offer us the best options to perform well in the expected conditions in Pakistan and the UAE.
"We're lucky to have a large chunk of the group with significant international and tournament experience to draw upon.
"The tournament format is a unique one in that you have to hit the ground running which means our preparation in the pre-leading Tri Series is really important.
New Zealand begin their preparations for the Champions Trophy with a warm-up Tri-Series against Pakistan and South Africa in Karachi and Lahore, before an ICC warm-up match against Afghanistan in Karachi.
The Champions Trophy campaign gets underway with the opening match of the tournament against Pakistan in Karachi on February 19.
