Black Caps star fit for World Cup

Tim Southee has been cleared to join the Black Caps in India later this week for the Cricket World Cup and remains a chance to play in the opening game against England.

The 34-year-old paceman continues to progress his recovery from surgery on his fractured right thumb which he suffered against England earlier this month.

He will depart for World Cup on Saturday with an aim of being available to face the defending champions on October 5 in Ahmedabad.

As a contingency, pace-bowler Kyle Jamieson will also join the World Cup squad in India, having just played in the series win over Bangladesh.

Jamieson will not officially be part of the World Cup squad and therefore not available to play in any of the warm-up matches scheduled for Friday against Pakistan and Monday against South Africa.

The second group of Black Caps players and support staff depart to India from Christchurch today, including skipper Kane Williamson who is overcoming an serious knee injury.

Speaking on TalkSPORT’s Following On Podcast earlier this month, Williamson revealed there was “still a bit of work to go” on his road to recovery.

The 33-year-old injured his knee and suffered an ACL injury while playing for the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League on April 2. He his hopeful to return to the Black Caps squad for the World Cup.

“I’ve had a very good team around me and I suppose as a professional sportsperson if you’re injured there’s not much else to do except trying to get back on the park.

”So the motivation is certainly there and, also up until, well, at the moment, [I’ve] been relatively fortunate in terms of not too many big setbacks on that road to recovery.

”It’s been a week-by-week, day-by-day process. It’s really exciting to be in a position to be selected in the squad for the World Cup.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission