Southee to lead Black Caps against PM's XI

Despite being absent from much of New Zealand’s pre-departure training due to his appearance in a London courtroom, Black Caps’ skipper Brendon McCullum will be rested from their tour opener against a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Friday.

McCullum, who returned from London in recent days after appearing as a witness in the perjury trial of his former teammate Chris Cairns, will be eased back into competitive cricket starting with the two-day game against a Cricket Australia XI that begins at Manuka Oval on Saturday.

The proximity of the day-night PM’s XI fixture and the two-day red-ball game that starts the following morning means the Black Caps will take a cautious approach to player workloads in the lead-up to the opening Commonwealth Bank Test that starts in Brisbane on November 5.

NZ coach Mike Hesson confirmed ahead of his team’s first Australian training session at Manuka this afternoon that McCullum, wicketkeeper B J Watling and one of his front-line seam bowlers (possibly Trent Boult) will also be rested on Friday, while star batsman Kane Williamson was also unlikely to play.

In the quartet’s absence, seamer Tim Southee is expected to captain his national team for the first time against a PM’s XI that includes Test incumbents Adam Voges and Peter Siddle, aspirants Usman Khawaja, Joe Burns, Cameron Bancroft and Ashton Agar and will be led by ex-Test batsman Michael Hussey.

Hesson said that while McCullum was keen to get back to cricket after a stint in the witness box at the Southwark Crown Court where the Cairns trial continues, the focus of his 15-man squad remains the first of three Tests that will culminate in the historic day-night Test in Adelaide from November 27.

“He’s great, he’s really enjoyed being back with the group,” Hesson said when asked about McCullum’s mindset after testifying in the much talked about court case.

“He’s keen to start hitting some balls today and getting back into full training.

“(But) there will be a few of our key players not playing in that (PM’s XI pink ball match on Friday), with a day-night game and then a two-day game starting the following morning we’ll be a bit careful with our bowlers.

“We’ll just use the next seven days training to get up to speed for Brisbane so it will be a bit of a mixture.”

Hesson would also not guarantee that McCullum will lead the team and play a central role in the subsequent two-day game against a CA XI that will feature the Marsh brothers Shaun and Mitchell as well as Siddle, Voges, Bancroft, Khawaja, Burns and Agar.

“He’ll play a part,” Hesson said when asked if McCullum was a certain starter for the two-day game that will be followed next week by a four-day match also against a CA XI at Blacktown in Sydney’s west.

“But Brendon’s been away from training for a little while so he’s looking forward to getting back into that and we’ll ease him back in and make sure he’s ready to go for Brisbane.

“We’ve known the timelines for a long time and we’ve put plans in place, so Brendon will be ready by Brisbane.

“He’s very much on track.”

Cricket Australia is expected to announce their squad for the opening Test of the summer during next week’s round of day-night Sheffield matches.

New Zealand squad: Brendon McCullum (c), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.