Former Black Caps captain Ross Taylor's been named in a New Zealand Cricket XI to face England in two warm-up Twenty20 matches next month in Whangarei.
Taylor ends his self-imposed exile from cricket tomorrow, turning out for his Central Districts side against visitors Canterbury in the four-day Plunket Shield competition.
National selection manager Kim Littlejohn says obviously it's great to have Taylor back in the mix and they're really excited about seeing him play again as he's a proven world-class batsman, and this will provide him with a great chance to get some cricket under his belt following his break.
The games, on February the 4th and 6th at Cobham Oval, precede the series with England, which gets underway with the first of three Twenty20 matches on February the 9th at Eden Park.
Littlejohn says it's a very strong XI and he expects them to be competitive, with the likes of Nick Beard, Matt Henry, Anton Devcich and Hamish Rutherford getting their first chance after showing promise on the domestic scene.
Taylor was sacked as skipper by coach Mike Hesson last month after the Black Caps tour of Sri Lanka and made himself unavailable for the current tour of South Africa.
The 28-year-old, however, has said he'll consider returning to the team for the England series and will play his first game for Central Districts since losing the captaincy, when CD begin a four-day Plunket Shield game on Thursday in Napier.
The former Australia wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi has also been named in the New Zealand side after completing the required stand-down period to play for his country of birth.
Ronchi was born in New Zealand but moved to Western Australia as a child.
NZ XI: Andrew Ellis (C): Canterbury Wizards, Anton Devcich: Northern Knights, Colin Munro: Auckland
Aces, Hamish Rutherford: Otago Volts, Ian Butler: Otago Volts, Jimmy Neesham: Otago Volts, Luke Ronchi: Wellington Firebirds, Matthew Henry: Canterbury Wizards, Michael Bates: Auckland Aces, Neil Broom: Otago Volts, Neil Wagner: Otago Volts, Nick Beard: Otago Volts, Ross Taylor: Central Stags, Tom Latham: Canterbury Wizards
