Injured Mitchell Santner ruled out of Africa tour

Santner impressed everyone in England recently

New Zealand allrounder Mitchell Santner has been ruled out of New Zealand’s tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa which is scheduled to begin in 10 days time, reports ESPN Cricinfo. The 23-year-old who impressed one and all during New Zealand’s recent tour of England fractured his thumb during a training session.

He will now be replaced by uncapped allrounder George Worker who topped the run-scoring charts in the Ford trophy by scoring 538 runs (which also included a magnificent knock of 194) at an average of almost 49. He also picked up 9 wickets with the ball at an impressive average of 20.11. He is pretty much a like-for-like replacement as he bats left-handed at the top of the order and bowls left-arm spin.

The injury occurred when Santner tried to stop a ball of his own bowling at New Zealand Cricket's High Performance Centre in Christchurch. "We feel for Mitch because he was really excited about this tour and we were looking forward to seeing him continue his development in international cricket. It is unfortunate but at the same time it presents George with his first opportunity in the Black Caps environment and we are confident that he'll fit in well," New Zealand coach Mike Hessen said as reported by the website.

Anton Devcich was not considered for selection as he continues to recover from his surgery. With Brendon McCullum being rested, New Zealand will be led by Kane Williamson. The tour begins with an ODI against Zimbabwe at Harare on the 2nd of August.