Mick Newell has congratulated James Taylor on the “well deserved” honour of captaining England.
With Eoin Morgan involved in the Indian Premier League, Taylor will lead his country for the first time in the One Day International against Ireland on Friday 8th May.
“It’s a tremendous honour to be captaining your country in any match,” Newell said.
“It’s well deserved in terms of the work he’s put in, both as a batsman and as a captain with Notts and the England Lions.
“He was a fairly obvious choice to captain this team and I’ve got absolutely no doubt he’s up to the job.
‘He’s also the sort of person that seems to respond to extra responsibility with a better level of performance.”
Nottinghamshire’s Director of Cricket has urged the 25-year-old, who averages over 74 in List A cricket for Nottinghamshire, to lead from the front with his bat during the game in the Irish capital, something he did successfully during the 2014 season as limited-overs captain of Nottinghamshire.
“The most obvious thing is you don’t want it to impact on his batting,” Newell said.
“Tactically he’s demonstrated that he’s a sound captain, so he’ll want to make a major contribution to the game with his bat, to show that he’s able to take on the extra responsibility without it impacting on his own performance.
“His performances with the bat in 20 and 50 over cricket last season were at an incredibly high level.
“In 50 over cricket he made three centuries and helped the team to win a lot of important games.”
Newell also had words of encouragement for Alex Hales who has also been named in the squad following a prolific start to Nottinghamshire’s LV= County Championship campaign.
The 26-year-old followed his career-best 236 against Yorkshire with a second successive century against newly promoted Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl. Newell said Hales is batting “exceptionally well” and highlighted the fact that both those scores came under difficult circumstances.
“This is traditionally a hard time to score runs,” Newell said.
“The runs he’s got have been in tough situations; both times where we have been put in, both times on green pitches and both times he has come through with flying colours.
“This England game is an absolutely huge opportunity for Alex and it’s come at a great time because he’s in such great touch.”
England’s summer white ball cricket against New Zealand runs from Thursday 21 May through to Tuesday 23 June, and Newell has planned ahead for the prospect of missing his two upper middle-order men.
‘That’s one of the reasons why we have a squad of batsmen,” he said.
“Brendan Taylor was brought in specifically to cover Test and ODI call-ups and we have Greg Smith who is desperate to get a game as well.
“We know we’re going to be short of players at certain times during the season for Twenty20 and four-day cricket, and we have to have a squad of players to cover that eventuality.”
Trent Bridge hosts the fourth Royal London One-Day International between England and New Zealand on Wednesday 17 June. Don't miss the chance to watch England seek redemption against the Kiwis and secure your seat now.