Blackcaps star Kane Williamson has been confirmed as captain at the upcoming World Cup, but his fielding position is still unknown, as he continues his comeback from knee surgery.
Williamson, 33, seemed likely to miss the 50-over tournament, after tearing his ACL ligament during the Indian Premier League in March, but has battled back to take his place in the team for two warm-up matches against Pakistan and South Africa.
New Zealand won both hitouts, before their tournament opener against England on Thursday - a rematch of the 2019 final, when the English prevailed on a boundary countback.
Williamson won't contest the opening match - wicketkeeper Tom Latham will lead the side - but coach Gary Stead insists he will retain the captaincy, when he returns, presumably against the Netherlands on Monday.
"Absolutely," Stead has told AM. "Kane is the white-ball captain for New Zealand, so that's not even a discussion point for us."
In his absence, Latham, test skipper Tim Southee, and even paceman Lockie Ferguson have captained the national side in limited-overs series, as Stead and his selectors spread the heavy playing load across their contracted players.
There may have been a temptation to take the leadership responsibility off Williamson, and allow him to concentrate on his batting and his recovery. Stead has ruled that out, but his position in the field is up for debate.
Traditionally stationed at mid-wicket, Williamson may need to find a location that puts less stress on his knees, while still allowing him to communicate plans with his bowlers. He did not take the field against Pakistan, but returned to that role against the Proteas.
"We have to just monitor how he goes," admitted Stead. "He fielded in a number of different positions last night in his first outing in the field.
"We're just trying to work out where is best for him, but he's feeling better every day. We know he's not at 100 percent of his fielding ability right now, so we just have to keep monitoring that throughout the tournament and hope he can keep improving, as it goes on."
Southee is also under an injury cloud, after breaking a thumb against England last month, but Stead reports he isn't far away.
"He had a very light bowl yesterday, which is encouraging to see," he said. "We train again first thing tomorrow morning and I'm sure Tim will start bowling more and getting match ready, but he won't be available for this first game."
England will be very familiar opponents, after the two rivals faced off in four T20 matches and four one-day fixtures last month, with both series ending in ties.
"They're obviously a quality side and littered with world-class players," assessed Stead. "We just have to make sure we play our game and play it very well to the best of our ability.
"If we do that, we still rate ourselves a good chance against all teams in this tournament. Knowing they have a number of worldbeaters, we need some really solid plans around how we combat their skills."
Foremost among those stars is Christchurch-born Ben Stokes, who was Player of the Match in the 2019 final and has returned from one-day retirement for this tournament.
"It's great for cricket," chuckled Stead. "Ben's a quality player and the decisions people make at different times in their career... it's so changeable.
"Yes, we'd probably rather play a team without Ben Stokes in it, but we'll have to come up with some good plans to get him out."
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