Squad depth in focus for New Zealand, Australia amid key absences

New Zealand's clocks have only just changed to summer time and this T20I series against Australia - with three games across four days - will mark the earliest start ever to an international home season as both teams look to continue their build towards next year's World Cup. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the forecast suggests there will need to be some luck to get three completed matches.

The home side is coming off the back of their T20I tri-series final victory against South Africa in July, while for Australia, this series is the latest in an extensive run of the format which has already featured West Indies and South Africa in the last few months and will be followed by India in late October.

The two teams are tracking well: New Zealand have won nine out of 11 T20Is in 2025 while Australia's formline has been formidable with just two losses in 17 matches since the last T20 World Cup.

For this series, there are key absentees in both squads. New Zealand are missing captain Mitchell Santner (abdominal injury), Will O'Rourke (back), Glenn Phillips (groin), Finn Allen (foot), Adam Milne (ankle), Lockie Ferguson (hamstring) and Kane Williamson (unavailable).

Australia are without Cameron Green (playing red-ball cricket), Glenn Maxwell (broken wrist), Josh Inglis (calf strain), Nathan Ellis (paternity) and Pat Cummins (back). It is also their first T20I series since the retirement of Mitchell Starc, although he had not featured since the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Given the players Australia are missing, it will be interesting to see how they structure their batting order and specifically how high Tim David slots in following his recent success at No. 5. New Zealand, meanwhile, have been boosted by the returns of Kyle Jamieson and Ben Sears to add to their pace options, which will somewhat help counter the injuries to Ferguson and Milne.

These matches are being used to mark 20 years since the first men's T20I between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park, although the game itself happened in February of 2005, with Bay Oval being rebranded "Beige Oval" and there will likely be plenty of references to the big hair on display that day in Auckland. There are also plans for an under-arm bowling contest between fans during the interval which harks back to, well, you know what.

The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, currently held by Australia, is up for grabs after the 2024 change that saw it presented for T20I series.

Form guide

New Zealand WWWWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Australia WLWWW

This is an important series for allrounder Matt Short after a run of injuries which have prevented him playing for Australia since the Champions Trophy. There will be a logjam for batting spots when everyone is available, so he will need to stake his claim for a position in the World Cup starting XI. Since making 66 in his second T20I back in 2023, Short has made some handy contributions without quite building on starts, although he has been shifted around the order. After Maxwell's injury, Short will also likely have an important role to play with his offspin to help fill in the fifth bowler's quota.

Tim Seifert is on a terrific run in T20 cricket. In his last 11 innings at international level, he has made 497 runs at 55.22 and a strike rate of 168.47 including a career-best 97 not out against Pakistan at the end of last season. He is also coming off a productive CPL for St Lucia Kings, where he made 396 runs with a strike rate of 169.23 with a career-best 125 not out off 53 balls against Antigua and Barbuda Falcons. However, his record against Australia in T20Is needs considerable work: in eight innings he has made just 52 runs at 7.42. Seifert, the holder of a casual contract with NZC, has committed to being available through to next year's World Cup.

Rachin Ravindra emerged as a late doubt having suffered a facial injury when crashing into boundary boards during training and will go through concussion testing. Should he be ruled out, Tim Robinson would likely come in at the top of the order.

New Zealand (possible): 1 Tim Seifert (wk), 2 Devon Conway, 3 Rachin Ravindra/Tim Robinson, 4 Mark Chapman, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Bevon Jacobs, 7 Michael Bracewell (capt), 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Jacob Duffy

The injuries to Maxwell and Inglis, plus Green not being on the tour, reduces the squeeze on batting spots meaning the returning Short and Marcus Stoinis will both likely feature. With three games in just four days there will probably be some rotation among the quicks.

Australia (possible): 1 Travis Head, 2 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 3 Matt Short, 4 Tim David, 5 Alex Carey (wk), 6 Mitch Owen, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Ben Dwarshuis, 9 Sean Abbott, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Despite it being very early season, the expectation is that the surface in Mount Maunganui will be good for batting. The breeze could also be an important factor for batters and bowlers. The forecast for the opening match is good - although it will be cold in the evening - but the second game on Friday could be in bother with rain on the horizon and it looks like a case of fingers crossed for that and Saturday.

"It's certainly one of the bigger trophies that we can contest for a bilateral series and it has a lot of history. We haven't had it for a while, so we'll be doing everything that we can to get it back in our cabinet."
Michael Bracewell on the significance of the Chappell-Hadlee trophy

"Obviously we've got some quite aggressive players and it's going to happen where we lose early wickets, but we've got that much talent and skill down the order that we can dig our way out of those situations."
Mitch Owen on Australia's batting mindset