November 29, 2025 • 10 mins
The Black Caps are looking ahead to the next test series.
A three-test series is coming up against The West Indies before Christmas, starting on Tuesday in Christchurch, and then test matches at the Basin Reserve in Wellington and Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui before Christmas.
Black Caps coach Rob Walter told Jason Pine that he's hopeful heading into the series, stating that, 'you're building on the positivity and the confidence from one format to the next.'
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey, CAP's about to swap the colored clothing and white
cricket balls for the white clothing and red cricket balls.
Their first Test matches coming up since convincingly beating Zimbabwe
earlier this year.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
And out this time. The gully fielder takes that catch
and Duffy gets his second wicket off the first bottom
a new Orber one hundred and seventeen all out Zimbabwe
in their second outing and newsal And win this Test
match by an innings and three hundred and fifty nine
runs and sealed the series two games to Now.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
A three Test series coming up against the West Indies
before Christmas, starting on Tuesday in christ Church and then
Test matches at the Basement Reserve in Wellington and Bayoval
and Mount Montanery before Christmas. Black Caps coach Rob Walter
is with Ushrop. Thanks for taking the time before we
look at these Test matches. How do you evaluate the
science performances in your T twenty and ODI series wins
(01:06):
over the West Indies?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Yeahs, in reflection, we'd be pretty happy given that we
took out both both series, the te twiny endlad eyes
probably never strung together, you know, sort of a polished
performance in all departments, but managed to win a few
close ones, which is always good. Managed to win a
(01:28):
few scrappy games, and the scrappy wins also good, you know,
to sort of when when you're not at your best
is also good signed for the team. So put together,
you know, some good performances here and there, individuals you know,
no one in particular it, but collectively, you know, just
standing up at different times to get the job done.
So all those I think are good things from a
team point of view.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Can you take momentum and confidence from series wins and
white ball cricket and to test matches?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Absolutely, I think you can. I think it's really you know,
sort of maintains a mindset, you know, so you're building
on the positivity and the confidence from one format the next,
albeit that they are very different. But I suppose the
collective confidence sort of sits, you know, at a deeper level,
and that's that's what we'd look to carry forward.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
All right, let's look at the squad. You have names
for these test matches. A couple of guys who aren't
there Kyle Jamison and Glenn Phillip's not considered as part
of a managed red ball return to play plan. Now
we saw Kyle play the T twenty and fifty over
games against the Windys, do you just feel as though
he's still short of readiness for the longer form?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, we got to you just be smart with regards
how we managed KRL. Obviously he's coming back from a
fairly long level through injury and you know, we're just
really enjoying the fact that he was able to put
back to back games together through the tea to any
series and Ody eyes and so now it's just about
being smart as to what the next step looks like
and we'll, you know, we'll just sort of tick the
(02:57):
boxes as they come and if that leaves us, you know,
with him running onto the field for Test matches again,
the brilliant But as I said, you know, as far
as far as five, more important is obviously taking care
of him as a cricketer and also the longer term picture.
You know, he's a massive part of our teams across
all formats, so we want to make sure, you know,
we do right by that decision.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
And Glenn Phillips he played Plunket Shill fro Tigo last week.
He's in the middle of a match again right now,
getting runs and wickets, which I'm sure you're happy about,
but just still a bit too soon for his return
for Test matches as well.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah again, you know, obviously GB had a long layoff
and that injury sort of kept him out of the
game for a fair period of time. So you know,
we've worked well, he's worked really hard to get himself
back to one hundred percent and again just you know,
his inclusion in these Plunket Hill games was part of
just ticking off boxes loading and make sure he's loading properly,
(03:50):
especially the specific injury. So he got through the first
game and then into the second game done really nicely,
which is great to see, but also left him two
days out from a from a test match starting, so
you know, it was difficult to make a decision for
the first test match given that we you know, we
still needed to see him get through the Funker Shield game,
so you know, again just trying to do the right
(04:12):
thing from a management point of view, really trying to
take care of our players and ensure their longevity out
there rather than just one game at a time.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Just before we move from those two, do you expect
them both to be in contention for international white ball
cricket after Christmas? All things going well, of course, and
leading into the T twenty World Cup, both both Jamison
and Phillips.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Yeah, yeah, we'd, we'd we'd be certainly focusing on that,
and obviously things can go wrong, but at this stage
it's all looking pretty positive for that.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Good to hear. Back to the Test squad, Tom Blundle
is the only wicket keeper you've named. Were you tempted
to include a backup in your squad?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
I suppose if something happened, you know, we did have
Devin there. You know, we do have Tommy Laith, you know,
who could take the gloves if it came to that,
and if we needed a short term replacement. But then
obviously the time between games allows us to bring someone
else in if we needed to replace fully, so to
carry one and in the squad probably not necessarily, given
(05:08):
that we do have guys who can't take the gloves
if need be, that are actually keepers.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
And Kane Williamson back on the side after missing the
Test series in Zimbabwe over our winter, He's recently announced
his retirement from international T twenty cricket. Do you feel
confident Robbie's got a couple more years of Test cricket
left in him.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
I mean, look at our conversations really have just been
about you know, sort of this series that's in front
of us and taking care of that. I know, he
just wants to focus on getting out there in the
whites and really delivering some good performances for the team
out of these three Test matches and then you know
the next international cricket after that is a fair way away.
(05:49):
So we will get through these three Test matches first,
and as Kane has said himself, you know around his
T training decision is there's obviously different elements of his
life now that he asticon city is dedicated to this
team for fifteen years, and there's obviously different considerations for
him now. So you know, for me, it's really allowing
him to work through that and whatever the future looks
(06:11):
like and then will you know, we'll sort of respect
his decisions with that. So yeah, as I said, I mean,
the next Test matches are in June in the UK,
so it's a it's a fair chunk of time.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Alway from that, it is but then I don't know.
I mean, I'm not sure we can get inside his head,
but there are some exciting red ball series coming up England,
as you mentioned, India and then Australia. I don't know,
I'd feel tempted. I'm not King Williamson, but I feel
tempted by Test series like that. Do you think he's
got his eyes on a pretty exciting twelve to fifteen
(06:42):
months of red ball cricketer ahead.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Yeah, I think everyone would look at the Test matches
and I feel that it's a pretty exciting proposition. But again, really,
as you said, you know, I'm not in KNZ either.
Obviously we speak regularly about about various things, and obviously
he's been the leader of this team bear as a
captain or as just a leader, for a very long
period of time and probably has ticked off a few
(07:07):
of these Tests series that a lot of the other
guys haven't, you know, so but still it's still exciting,
you know, whichever way, like that's an exciting eighteen months
of Test creed in particular, as you say, you know
that our sort of bucket listings for a lot of plays.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
The wickets in New Zealand, awise a bit harder to
predict before Christmas. What are you expecting from the pictures
at these three test venues against the Windys?
Speaker 4 (07:33):
I suppose, you know, there's tended to be a fairly
sort of consistent personality for in particular Hagley and the
basin that that means slightly changed here and there, but
largely we're just hoping for the conditions that we know
and understand of our venues. You know. That's I guess
that is what home ground advantage is. You know, it's
(07:55):
just the knowledge of how the decks generally play, so
really hoping for the same, you know, for them to
keep their character and for us to understand exactly what's
in front of us, and having played and been really
successful at those venues as well.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Just back to the T twenty game, A lot of
discussion at the moment about the domestic competition here. What's
your view on how well the current domestic competition prepares
players for international T twenty cricket.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Well, I think, to be honest, I think our T
twenty competition is sort of undervalued in terms of the
quality of it. I think for the most part, the
standard is very high. Probably the missing piece in the
puzzle is obviously the high quality overseas professionals, which other
T twenty leagues does have, and so you would expect
(08:47):
it that raises the quality of the competition a little.
And then also there's the experience of those players that
come into the change room and the impact that has.
But for the most part, I think we've got a
very very strong domestic competition that obviously could be stronger.
I mean, we've be naive not to think that it could.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
So in that regard, and you talk about those international
players for that reason, do you do you like the
idea of a potential franchise model for our T twenty
game here?
Speaker 4 (09:16):
I mean, to be honest, I just want what's best,
you know, if one for the players and ultimately for
the black Caps, and there's obviously talk of different ways
to do that. I suppose in essence that's what the
Deloitte sort of into the investigation around what's the most
feasible and best for our cricket is for you know,
so you could sit and deliberate I suppose many different options.
(09:37):
I always come back to just what's best for cricket
and cricketers in our country.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And you've been in the role of head coach for
six months now, are you enjoying yourself?
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Loving it?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Eh, I mean what's not to love really? Yeah? So yeah,
I mean international cricket and coaching at this level. But
also you know, it's sort of a wonderful environment and
wonderful group of guys that get on well. But you know,
I'm hungry to play for their country. So it's it's
really been a great six or six or seven months.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Good stuff. Wrong, Well, we saw the first Ashes Test
the other day finish inside two days. What did you
What did you make of that?
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Well? I certainly then ours last a bit longer. But yeah,
so as if if entertainments you're seeing, then you would
have been entertained, there's no doubt about that. We just
hopefully entertained the crowds for a little bit longer than
two days.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, let's hope. So all right, I look forward to
to three test matches before Christmas and christ Gitch Wellington
and Mount Monginger. We robb thanks for joining us across
New Zealand. Mate, all the best for these for these
three tests in the next little while.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
No way's Jason's take it.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
No, you take care to Rob Thanks to Dave rob
Walter there black Caps Coach.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, Listen live
to news Talks b weekends from midday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey, CAP's about to swap the colored clothing and white
cricket balls for the white clothing and red cricket balls.
Their first Test matches coming up since convincingly beating Zimbabwe
earlier this year.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
And out this time. The gully fielder takes that catch
and Duffy gets his second wicket off the first bottom
a new Orber one hundred and seventeen all out Zimbabwe
in their second outing and newsal And win this Test
match by an innings and three hundred and fifty nine
runs and sealed the series two games to Now.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
A three Test series coming up against the West Indies
before Christmas, starting on Tuesday in christ Church and then
Test matches at the Basement Reserve in Wellington and Bayoval
and Mount Montanery before Christmas. Black Caps coach Rob Walter
is with Ushrop. Thanks for taking the time before we
look at these Test matches. How do you evaluate the
science performances in your T twenty and ODI series wins
(01:06):
over the West Indies?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Yeahs, in reflection, we'd be pretty happy given that we
took out both both series, the te twiny endlad eyes
probably never strung together, you know, sort of a polished
performance in all departments, but managed to win a few
close ones, which is always good. Managed to win a
(01:28):
few scrappy games, and the scrappy wins also good, you know,
to sort of when when you're not at your best
is also good signed for the team. So put together,
you know, some good performances here and there, individuals you know,
no one in particular it, but collectively, you know, just
standing up at different times to get the job done.
So all those I think are good things from a
team point of view.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Can you take momentum and confidence from series wins and
white ball cricket and to test matches?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Absolutely, I think you can. I think it's really you know,
sort of maintains a mindset, you know, so you're building
on the positivity and the confidence from one format the next,
albeit that they are very different. But I suppose the
collective confidence sort of sits, you know, at a deeper level,
and that's that's what we'd look to carry forward.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
All right, let's look at the squad. You have names
for these test matches. A couple of guys who aren't
there Kyle Jamison and Glenn Phillip's not considered as part
of a managed red ball return to play plan. Now
we saw Kyle play the T twenty and fifty over
games against the Windys, do you just feel as though
he's still short of readiness for the longer form?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, we got to you just be smart with regards
how we managed KRL. Obviously he's coming back from a
fairly long level through injury and you know, we're just
really enjoying the fact that he was able to put
back to back games together through the tea to any
series and Ody eyes and so now it's just about
being smart as to what the next step looks like
and we'll, you know, we'll just sort of tick the
(02:57):
boxes as they come and if that leaves us, you know,
with him running onto the field for Test matches again,
the brilliant But as I said, you know, as far
as far as five, more important is obviously taking care
of him as a cricketer and also the longer term picture.
You know, he's a massive part of our teams across
all formats, so we want to make sure, you know,
we do right by that decision.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
And Glenn Phillips he played Plunket Shill fro Tigo last week.
He's in the middle of a match again right now,
getting runs and wickets, which I'm sure you're happy about,
but just still a bit too soon for his return
for Test matches as well.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah again, you know, obviously GB had a long layoff
and that injury sort of kept him out of the
game for a fair period of time. So you know,
we've worked well, he's worked really hard to get himself
back to one hundred percent and again just you know,
his inclusion in these Plunket Hill games was part of
just ticking off boxes loading and make sure he's loading properly,
(03:50):
especially the specific injury. So he got through the first
game and then into the second game done really nicely,
which is great to see, but also left him two
days out from a from a test match starting, so
you know, it was difficult to make a decision for
the first test match given that we you know, we
still needed to see him get through the Funker Shield game,
so you know, again just trying to do the right
(04:12):
thing from a management point of view, really trying to
take care of our players and ensure their longevity out
there rather than just one game at a time.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Just before we move from those two, do you expect
them both to be in contention for international white ball
cricket after Christmas? All things going well, of course, and
leading into the T twenty World Cup, both both Jamison
and Phillips.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Yeah, yeah, we'd, we'd we'd be certainly focusing on that,
and obviously things can go wrong, but at this stage
it's all looking pretty positive for that.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Good to hear. Back to the Test squad, Tom Blundle
is the only wicket keeper you've named. Were you tempted
to include a backup in your squad?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
I suppose if something happened, you know, we did have
Devin there. You know, we do have Tommy Laith, you know,
who could take the gloves if it came to that,
and if we needed a short term replacement. But then
obviously the time between games allows us to bring someone
else in if we needed to replace fully, so to
carry one and in the squad probably not necessarily, given
(05:08):
that we do have guys who can't take the gloves
if need be, that are actually keepers.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
And Kane Williamson back on the side after missing the
Test series in Zimbabwe over our winter, He's recently announced
his retirement from international T twenty cricket. Do you feel
confident Robbie's got a couple more years of Test cricket
left in him.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
I mean, look at our conversations really have just been
about you know, sort of this series that's in front
of us and taking care of that. I know, he
just wants to focus on getting out there in the
whites and really delivering some good performances for the team
out of these three Test matches and then you know
the next international cricket after that is a fair way away.
(05:49):
So we will get through these three Test matches first,
and as Kane has said himself, you know around his
T training decision is there's obviously different elements of his
life now that he asticon city is dedicated to this
team for fifteen years, and there's obviously different considerations for
him now. So you know, for me, it's really allowing
him to work through that and whatever the future looks
(06:11):
like and then will you know, we'll sort of respect
his decisions with that. So yeah, as I said, I mean,
the next Test matches are in June in the UK,
so it's a it's a fair chunk of time.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Alway from that, it is but then I don't know.
I mean, I'm not sure we can get inside his head,
but there are some exciting red ball series coming up England,
as you mentioned, India and then Australia. I don't know,
I'd feel tempted. I'm not King Williamson, but I feel
tempted by Test series like that. Do you think he's
got his eyes on a pretty exciting twelve to fifteen
(06:42):
months of red ball cricketer ahead.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Yeah, I think everyone would look at the Test matches
and I feel that it's a pretty exciting proposition. But again, really,
as you said, you know, I'm not in KNZ either.
Obviously we speak regularly about about various things, and obviously
he's been the leader of this team bear as a
captain or as just a leader, for a very long
period of time and probably has ticked off a few
(07:07):
of these Tests series that a lot of the other
guys haven't, you know, so but still it's still exciting,
you know, whichever way, like that's an exciting eighteen months
of Test creed in particular, as you say, you know
that our sort of bucket listings for a lot of plays.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
The wickets in New Zealand, awise a bit harder to
predict before Christmas. What are you expecting from the pictures
at these three test venues against the Windys?
Speaker 4 (07:33):
I suppose, you know, there's tended to be a fairly
sort of consistent personality for in particular Hagley and the
basin that that means slightly changed here and there, but
largely we're just hoping for the conditions that we know
and understand of our venues. You know. That's I guess
that is what home ground advantage is. You know, it's
(07:55):
just the knowledge of how the decks generally play, so
really hoping for the same, you know, for them to
keep their character and for us to understand exactly what's
in front of us, and having played and been really
successful at those venues as well.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Just back to the T twenty game, A lot of
discussion at the moment about the domestic competition here. What's
your view on how well the current domestic competition prepares
players for international T twenty cricket.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Well, I think, to be honest, I think our T
twenty competition is sort of undervalued in terms of the
quality of it. I think for the most part, the
standard is very high. Probably the missing piece in the
puzzle is obviously the high quality overseas professionals, which other
T twenty leagues does have, and so you would expect
(08:47):
it that raises the quality of the competition a little.
And then also there's the experience of those players that
come into the change room and the impact that has.
But for the most part, I think we've got a
very very strong domestic competition that obviously could be stronger.
I mean, we've be naive not to think that it could.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
So in that regard, and you talk about those international
players for that reason, do you do you like the
idea of a potential franchise model for our T twenty
game here?
Speaker 4 (09:16):
I mean, to be honest, I just want what's best,
you know, if one for the players and ultimately for
the black Caps, and there's obviously talk of different ways
to do that. I suppose in essence that's what the
Deloitte sort of into the investigation around what's the most
feasible and best for our cricket is for you know,
so you could sit and deliberate I suppose many different options.
(09:37):
I always come back to just what's best for cricket
and cricketers in our country.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And you've been in the role of head coach for
six months now, are you enjoying yourself?
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Loving it?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Eh, I mean what's not to love really? Yeah? So yeah,
I mean international cricket and coaching at this level. But
also you know, it's sort of a wonderful environment and
wonderful group of guys that get on well. But you know,
I'm hungry to play for their country. So it's it's
really been a great six or six or seven months.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Good stuff. Wrong, Well, we saw the first Ashes Test
the other day finish inside two days. What did you
What did you make of that?
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Well? I certainly then ours last a bit longer. But yeah,
so as if if entertainments you're seeing, then you would
have been entertained, there's no doubt about that. We just
hopefully entertained the crowds for a little bit longer than
two days.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, let's hope. So all right, I look forward to
to three test matches before Christmas and christ Gitch Wellington
and Mount Monginger. We robb thanks for joining us across
New Zealand. Mate, all the best for these for these
three tests in the next little while.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
No way's Jason's take it.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
No, you take care to Rob Thanks to Dave rob
Walter there black Caps Coach.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, Listen live
to news Talks b weekends from midday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio
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