The wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell has been ruled out of the second test of the West Indies tour of New Zealand 2025 due to a hamstring injury.

He suffered the injury while batting in the first test in Christchurch, and hence, Mitchell Hay is set to make his debut at the Basin Reserve.

This comes after Matt Henry, Nathan Smith and Mitchell Santner were ruled out of the remainder of the test series due to calf, side and groin injuries respectively.

Mitch Hay has made 19 appearances for New Zealand across white-ball formats (12 T20Is, 7 ODIs). In the 29 matches, he had played for Canterbury in First-class cricket, he has scored 1895 runs at a promising average of 48.58 with 17 fifties and a hundred which was his top-score of 146.

Kyle Jamieson will be aiming for a red-ball return with the backroom staff of New Zealand, having recently featured in the plunket Shield game for Canterbury agianst Central Stags.

Glenn Phillips who recovered from a groin strain, played the first two fixtures of the competition for Otago where he scored 130 runs and nine wickets.

Speaking on Mitch Hay and new bowlers, head coach Rob Walter said, “Mitch is a young cricketer who’s already contributed well to the white-ball side. He also has an excellent record at First-Class level with Canterbury. Having him come into a Test squad is a great moment in his career and we’re really excited to see him play his part.”

Michael Clarke has picked up 79 wickets for Northern Districts in 28 matches while Rae (30) has 208 wickets in 70 matches across hi first-class career.

“Kristian and Michael are both identified players of interest with great ability, and have both been good performers for their domestic sides over the past few years. “They both have good skill with the red-ball, and there’s a great opportunity for them to show that skill for us at the highest level of the game.”

The second test will be played between December 10 and 14 at Basin Reserve, Wellington.