New Zealand pacer Iain O'Brien who now lives in the UK, was in New Zealand to deal with his mental health issues but his month-long trip was disrupted after countries went into a lockdown mode and borders were closed to control the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. After three of his flights were cancelled, O'Brien decided to seek donations to arrange the money for his ticket.
New Zealand have named two new faces in their 14-man squad to play Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series starting next month.
Simon Katich stayed unbeaten on a well made 67 even though he felt short of partners during Australia's second innings in the first Test against New Zealand at Brisbane on Friday. Australian batsmen struggled to stay at the wicket for long as they ended day two at a score of 131 for the loss of six wickets, scoring at an average of 3.44 runs per over.
Mehrab Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim shared a record fifth-wicket stand for Bangladesh who reached 183 runs for four at the close on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand on Friday. Mehrab (79) and Rahim (59) produced an unbroken stand of 139, surpassing the previous best fifth-wicket partnership of 126 made against Sri Lanka in 2001 in Colombo.
Riding on comeback star Shane Bond's brilliant match figures of eight for 153, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 32 runs in the first Test in Dunedin on Saturday.
Left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan shared six wickets to leave New Zealand struggling on 281 for eight on the third day of the first Test on Thursday.
The six off Iain O'Brien was 50th for Sachin Tendulkar in Test cricket. He became the fourth Indian after Virender Sehwag (65), Kapil Dev (61) and Sourav Ganguly (57) to do so.
The New Zealand selectors on Monday retained almost the same side for the second Test against India which suffered a humiliating 10-wicket mauling in the first Test in Hamilton. Brent Arnel is the only one to be omitted from the squad as the fast bowler, who was released to play in the domestic competition, has been laid low by a side strain.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and elected to field in the third one-day international against India at Lancaster Park, Christchurch on Sunday. McCullum has replaced regular captain Daniel Vettori, who has left the team to be present at the birth of his first child in Auckland.
Fast bowler Ian Buttler's impressive showing in the just-concluded Twenty20 internationals earned him a place in New Zealand's One-day team, after a hiatus of five years, for the first three games of the five-match series against India, starting March 3. Apart from Buttler, Kyle Mills also made a comeback to the ODI squad after a two-week injury lay-off to augment an already lethal Kiwi pace battery, led by Iain O'Brien, Butler and Tim Southee.
All-rounder Ewen Thompson was the only new face named in New Zealand's 13-man squad for two Twenty20 matches against the West Indies this month. Thompson, 29, has taken 16 wickets at an average of 17 and an economy rate of 6.97 playing for Central Districts.
New Zealand cricketers said they were victim of crowd abuse during the first Test against Australia at the Gabba, where they were called "faggots".
Struggling to find a flight to get back to his family in the United Kingdom, former Zealand pacer Iain O'Brien says he is worried about his wife's health as she has a lung condition, which puts her at great risk in the rapidly-spreading coronavirus pandemic. The 43-year-old from Wellington, who now lives with his wife Rosie and two kids -- Alethea and Zain -- in the UK, was in New Zealand to deal with some mental health issues that he has been working on.
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