Santner now NZ’s white-ball captain

Wellington: Spinner Mitchell Santner has been named New Zealand’s white-ball captain. The 32-year-old replaces Kane Williamson, who stood down following the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Santner regularly stood in for Williamson and has already led the Black Caps in 24 T20s and four one-day internationals. His first assignment as permanent skipper will be a T20 series against Sri Lanka which begins on 28 December. "It’s obviously a huge honour and a privilege to be asked,” said Santner, who has played 213 white-ball matches for New Zealand. "When you’re a young kid the dream was always to play for New Zealand but to have the opportunity to officially lead my country in two formats is special.” Coach Gary Stead said Santner’s appointment came amid a wish to allow Tom Latham, who has captained in all three formats, to focus on his current role as Test skipper. "Mitch is a fantastic team man and leads by example in all facets of the game,” said Stead. "He’s an incredibly calm and collected personality and he has a huge amount of respect in the changing room, which will serve him well.” (agencies)