Williamson, Nathan Smith back in New Zealand squad for England ODIs

Kane Williamson will return to action for New Zealand in the three-match ODI series against England, which kicks off at Bay Oval, his home ground, on October 26. Williamson, 35, is missing from the ongoing T20I series as he is recovering from an unspecified, 'minor medical issue' in the past month.

Williamson is among a group of players who have a casual contract with New Zealand Cricket (NZC). He had earlier made himself unavailable for the three-match T20I series against Australia and missed the Zimbabwe tour to play county cricket and the Hundred as part of his deal with Middlesex. More recently, Williamson was appointed Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) strategic advisor in the IPL.

Allrounder Nathan Smith also returned to the New Zealand squad after undergoing rehab for an abdominal injury sustained during the first Test against Zimbabwe in August in Bulawayo. Smith, 27, has not played any competitive cricket since.

New Zealand head coach Rob Walter welcomed Williamson and Smith back into the set-up. For Williamson, this will be his first appearance for New Zealand since the Champions Trophy final in Dubai in March earlier this year. Smith also played in that final, though as a last-minute replacement for Matt Henry, who was injured at the time.

"Kane and Nathan have had to work hard to overcome their respective injuries and illness," Walter said in a statement. "We all know what Kane means to the Blackcaps - to have his skill, experience and leadership back in the group is fantastic.

"Nathan's still relatively new to his international career, but he's impressed with his all-round skills and ability in the field."

Having undergone rehab, Smith has declared himself fit and ready for the New Zealand summer.

"Yeah, always exciting when you get the opportunity to play for New Zealand in any series," Smith said. "The last period from that [Bulawayo] Test to now has looked like a bit of rest initially. And then after a couple of weeks, you can sort of start to get moving again and strengthen the ab back-ups. Since the start of September, I've been ripping into some rehab and building the bowling loads back up. It's just been a really good period to get some strength in and build some training back up for a busy season."

Mitchell Santner also returned to take charge of the ODI team after leading them to the Champions Trophy final. Having recovered from an abdominal injury, he is currently in action in the T20I series against England.

However, Finn Allen (foot), Lockie Ferguson (hamstring), Adam Milne (ankle), Will O'Rourke (back), Glenn Phillips (groin), and Ben Sears (hamstring) were all unavailable due to injury.

Tom Latham will take the wicketkeeping gloves and will also make his first appearance for New Zealand since the Champions Trophy final. Latham had been sidelined from the two-match Test series in Zimbabwe with a shoulder injury. He hasn't played any competitive cricket since his century for Birmingham Bears in the T20 Blast in July.

Along with Smith, Canterbury seam-bowling allrounder Zak Foulkes has also been picked in the squad. Foulkes has played just two internationals so far and in September, he hit back-to-back fifties for New Zealand A in Benoni in the unofficial ODI series. Michael Bracewell and Rachin Ravindra are the other allrounders in the side.

Henry, who is the highest wicket-taker among seamers in ODIs in 2025, with 24 strikes in nine innings at an average of 15.50, will lead the attack.

This will be Walter's first stint with the New Zealand ODI side as their head coach. "The ODI side has been very successful for a long period of time, as the current ICC ranking of number two suggests," Walter said. "We have an experienced core of players and as a team, are very clear on how we want to play. This is very much the start of our journey to the ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2027 and I know the group are excited to get going in this series against a quality England side."

New Zealand's ODI group will assemble in Tauranga on Friday ahead of Sunday's opening game. The second ODI will be played in Hamilton on October 29, while England's tour will conclude with the third ODI in Wellington on November 1.

The ODI series will overlap with the men's Ford Trophy, New Zealand's premier domestic one-day tournament, which will start on October 25 across various venues. The Ford Trophy will kick off New Zealand's domestic summer for a second year in a row. The Ford Trophy will start on October 25, followed by the women's Hallyburton Johnstone Shield (HBJ) taking off on November 15.

Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young