Matt Henry is off to his first T20 World Cup at the age of 32, joining Rachin Ravindra as the new faces in the Black Caps' 15-player squad
NZ recall Henry for maiden T20 World Cup appearance
Experience has trumped youthful pace in New Zealand's men's T20 World Cup squad, with Matt Henry and Trent Boult beating quick Ben Sears to the final 15.
Sears impressed in recent T20 and Test series against Australia, but after an expensive tour of Pakistan he has been edged by Henry, who will play at his first T20 World Cup at the age of 32.
"Matt has worked exceptionally hard on his skills across the phases of a T20 game to come back into selection consideration," coach Gary Stead said.
New Zealand will be led by Kane Williamson in the tournament, jointly hosted in the United States and Caribbean, with an otherwise familiar squad announced on Monday.
New Zealand 2024 men's T20 World Cup squad: Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee. Reserve: Ben Sears
Emerging batter Rachin Ravindra is the only other man set to make his T20 tournament debut in a vastly experienced team.
Ravindra, power-hitter Finn Allen (both 24) and allrounder Glenn Phillips, 27, are the only squad members who will still be under the age of 30 on the day of the World Cup final.
Boult has played just twice for New Zealand in the past 18 months – in a tough two matches against Australia in February where he conceded 12.16 runs an over without taking a wicket – but the T20 specialist has been selected in what could be the swansong of his international career.
Kyle Jamieson (back) and Adam Milne (ankle) weren't considered due to injury, while Tim Seifert was overlooked.
Stead has included an array of spin options – specialists Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi as well as Phillips, Ravindra and Michael Bracewell – to be prepared for slow pitches.
"We expect the venues in the West Indies to offer quite varied conditions and feel we've selected a squad with the scope to adapt to those conditions," Stead said.
"Rachin has made every post a winner in the past 12 months and it was exciting to see him continue that trajectory over the summer in the T20 format against Australia."
Sears will travel as the team's reserve.