Despite Will Young being recalled into the squad to fill the hole Williamson vacated, it will be Henry Nicholls to get the first crack when the second test against England begins at the Oval on Wednesday night, as captain Tom Latham confirmed overnight.
Henry Nicholls looks likely to be handed the No 3 spot for the All Blacks’ second test against England this week. Photo / Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
At 34, Nicholls boasts 58 tests’ worth of experience, even if he’s spent the better part of three years on the sidelines thanks to the rise of Rachin Ravindra. Few teams in the world have a player with 10 test centuries warming their bench, but that’s the situation Walter and co have on their hands in Nicholls.
While there might have been concerns over Nicholls’ form at the time he made way for Ravindra at the start of 2024, he’s done exactly what he was asked to do, and dominated domestic cricket for Canterbury.
Last season, as captain of the Plunket Shield-winning Canterbury side, Nicholls hammered 870 runs at a Bradman-esque average of 96.66, more than 150 clear of his closest competition. What’s more, he already has experience in deputising for Williamson, with his last test innings being an unbeaten 150 – admittedly against Zimbabwe – midway through 2025.
After he appeared to supplant Young as the spare batter in the Black Caps’ test ranks when the squad to tour England was named, it’s hard to not see a world where he’s named at No 3 at the toss on Wednesday night (NZT).
Longer term, though, what happens at No 3 is a bit murkier – if Nicholls can’t take that chance straight away.
While Williamson will go down in history as the best to ever mark guard for New Zealand, the reality is that Ravindra has been this side’s most important batter for about 18 months now.
If this were 2006 as opposed to 2026, Ravindra would be at short odds to move one place up the order and take the reins as the Black Caps’ premier batter.
But cricket has changed, there are few countries who play their best batter at No 3 in the way they once did. Australia’s Steve Smith and England’s Joe Root both occupy No 4, as did India’s Virat Kohli before he retired from tests last year.
Rachin Ravindra has arguably been New Zealand’s most important batter for the past 18 months. Photo / Nick Elliott / Photosport
Furthermore, Ravindra moving to No 4 solved the problem of how the Black Caps replaced Ross Taylor – three years after he retired. While Ravindra moving up the order might solve one problem, there’s a real chance it creates another, one spot down.
So who, then, could do the job? While the pair of Canterbury’s Rhys Mariu and Curtis Heaphy are far and away the best young players on New Zealand’s domestic scene, both are openers and might struggle to adapt to the mental demands of No 3.
There is, though, one very qualified option already in the Black Caps’ ranks – Devon Conway.
Even though the 34-year-old has found a home at the top of the New Zealand order, No 3 is where he made his name for Wellington. For four years, while he waited to become eligible for New Zealand after moving from South Africa, Conway terrorised bowlers at domestic level and was rushed into international cricket at the earliest opportunity.
So much so, he was earmarked as the one to replace Taylor, before Young’s inability to take his chance at the top triggered a reshuffle. From an admittedly small sample size of five tests, Conway averages 60.75 at No 3, with two of his seven centuries scored there.
Moving Conway down to No 3 will allow for one of Heaphy or Mariu to come in at the top of the order, with those two almost certain to be New Zealand’s opening pair once captain Tom Latham also calls time.
Considering Ravindra is the only member of this Black Caps’ batting unit under the age of 30, injecting youth over the coming years will happen whether selectors are rushed or not.
But if the question for the Black Caps is “how can Kane Williamson be replaced?” the simple answer is that he genuinely can’t.
Black Caps expected second test lineup: 1. Tom Latham (c), 2. Devon Conway, 3. Henry Nicholls, 4. Rachin Ravindra, 5. Daryl Mitchell, 6. Tom Blundell (wk), 7. Glenn Phillips, 8. Nathan Smith, 9. Kyle Jamieson, 10. Matt Henry, 11. Will O’Rourke
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.