New Zealand name preliminary World T20 squad

New Zealand have named their 30-man preliminary squad for the ICC World Twenty20, and it features only two men without international experience. The Canterbury batsman George Worker and the Auckland batsman Anaru Kitchen are the only players in the group who have not represented New Zealand in any format.

There were no major surprises in the squad, which does not feature Jesse Ryder, who no longer holds a New Zealand Cricket contract and is attempting to manage his off-field issues before being considered for national selection again. Daniel Vettori was included after coming out of his international T20 retirement earlier this year.

"This preliminary squad of 30 represents the best Twenty20 players in New Zealand," Kim Littlejohn, the national selection manager, said. "It's a well-balanced squad with a number of proven performers, giving us plenty of options ahead of final squad selection.

"With the exception of George Worker and Anaru Kitchen, who have both shown promise at domestic level, each member has international experience. From this large group we believe we can select a talented Twenty20 squad that will make a strong claim in Sri Lanka."

Worker, 22, was named after a promising campaign in the HRV Cup last summer, when he scored 251 runs at 35.85 and a strike rate of 136. Kitchen, 28, scored 157 runs at 26.16 in the HRV Cup and he was the fourth leading run scorer in the domestic one-day tournament, with 333 runs at 41.62.

The squad will be reduced to a final 15 by August 18.

Squad Ross Taylor (capt), Michael Bates, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Neil Broom, Dean Brownlie, Colin de Grandhomme, Andrew Ellis, Daniel Flynn, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Anaru Kitchen, Tom Latham, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan, Andy McKay, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Tarun Nethula, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Daniel Vettori, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson, Luke Woodcock, George Worker.