Santner ruled out of NZ's T20I series against Australia; Jamieson, Sears return

New Zealand white-ball captain Mitchell Santner has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Australia. Michael Bracewell will lead a 14-man squad that includes returning pace duo Kyle Jamieson and Ben Sears but is missing Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne due to injury.

Santner underwent abdominal surgery last month and was hopeful of being fit for the three-match series that will be played on October 1, 3, and 4 in Mount Maunganui but has not recovered in time.

"Never nice to lose your skipper," New Zealand coach Rob Walter said. "But these things do happen. And Michael has already been the captain of this team and did a great job against Pakistan. So fully confident in how he will lead the team."

Ferguson has been ruled out with a hamstring injury while Milne has a foot injury. Will O'Rourke (back), Glenn Phillips (groin) and Finn Allen (foot) had already been ruled out of New Zealand's first home series of the season while Kane Williamson made himself unavailable but is expected to return for the white-ball series against England.

Jamieson and Sears have been named after missing the tri-series in Zimbabwe in July. Jamieson missed the tour due to the birth of his first child while Sears was ruled out with a side injury. Walter was pleased to see Sears back fully fit.

"He's worked incredibly hard over the last 12 weeks to be back on the park and done some awesome work there," he said. "So we're excited to see him back in the competitive fold.

"We're building a bigger base of fast bowlers, because we understand that the program is so busy these days, but fast bowling is a key requisite for performance. So we want to make sure we've got as many options as we possibly can have."

Santner's absence means legspinner Ish Sodhi is retained in the smaller squad. Sodhi played only two of New Zealand's five matches in the Zimbabwe and missed out on the final despite taking 2 for 34 and 4 for 12 in the two games he played.

Devon Conway, who signed a casual playing agreement with New Zealand this week alongside Williamson, Allen, Seifert and Ferguson, retains his place after being a late call-up to Zimbabwe where he opened alongside Seifert.

New Zealand will face a relatively strong Australian side who are coming off two T20I series wins in recent months.

"[They play a] very aggressive brand, which is cool," Walter said. "I think that puts you under pressure. It certainly allows us to explore a few different options as to how we want to play against them, because it seems like they are coming with a very specific way that they want to play. So it'll be a lovely test."

Australia will only be missing three first-choice players in Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis and Cameron Green. Cummins has a hot spot in his lower back while Ellis will remain at home for the birth of his first child. Green is staying home to play first-class cricket for Western Australia where he will bowl for the first time since back surgery last year in preparation for the Ashes series starting in November.

Mitchell Starc has retired from T20I cricket, however he had not played for Australia since the 2024 World Cup.

Michael Bracewell (capt), Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi