Mark Craig - New Zealand - Bowler

A right arm off-break bowler, Mark Craig was picked as back-up option for Ish Sodhi for the tour to West Indies in 2014. The Otago offie also benefited from Jeetan Patel's move of turning down West Indian tour in favour of his county deal with Warwickshire. And boy did he make good on that opportunity! A Man of the Match performance on debut powered New Zealand to a win in Kingston and also sowed seeds of a decent Test run for Craig. Over the next couple of years, he proved to be more than handy with the bat and a batting average of 40+ is indicative of genuine all-round credentials. However, when it comes to his main role in the side, apart from a 10-fer against Pakistan at Sharjah which spun his country to a win, there's been nothing from Craig which stands out. Currently, with the emergence of Santner as well as the more preferred option of Ish Sodhi's leg spin, competition is pretty tough to get into the starting XI.

By Cricbuzz Staff