Wellington Firebirds Andy McKay and James Franklin have been picked for New Zealand to meet Bangladesh in February.

Left arm opening bowler McKay has been selected for New Zealand for the first time in the squad of twelve who will meet Bangladesh in three One Day Internationals in Napier, Dunedin and Christchurch on 5, 8 and 11 February.

Andy McKay (above) sending one down and James Franklin (below) saluting the crowd after scoring a half century.

Left arm batsman and left arm paceman Franklin will join Firebirds teammate McKay on the ODI field and will also line-up in the Blackcaps team against the touring Tigers in a Twenty20 international in Hamilton on 3 February.

BLACKCAPS selection is excellent reward for McKay who has consistently ran in hard and troubled the best willow exponents in domestic cricket so far this summer. In five matches of the One-Day competition he has taken 11 wickets with a best haul of 4 for 47 and has taken 36 wickets overall with best of 4 for 38, that he took the HRV Cup.

Franklin has bounced back from an enforced stint on the sideline after injuring his knee while playing for New Zealand A against Pakistan in November to play a leading role for the Firebirds throughout the HRV Cup. Franklin has been back bowling and his 188 runs with a top score of 72 are the second most for the Firebirds in the competition to date after Neal Parlane’s 280.

Selectors will announce the BLACKCAPS squad for the Feb 15-19 Bangladesh Test match in early February.

Other Wellington players Grant Elliott and Jesse Ryder remain unavailable due to injury.

The two BLACKCAPS squads to meet Bangladesh are:

Twenty20 squad

Brendon McCullum (Otago Volts)
Peter Ingram (Central Stags)
Martin Guptill (Auckland Aces)
Ross Taylor (Central Stags)
James Franklin (Wellington Firebirds)  
Gareth Hopkins (Auckland Aces)  
Jacob Oram (Central Stags)
Nathan McCullum (Otago Volts)
Daniel Vettori (Northern Knights)
Ian Butler (Otago Volts)
Daryl Tuffey (Auckland Aces)
Tim Southee (Northern Knights)

One-Day International squad 

Brendon McCullum (Otago Volts)
Peter Ingram (Central Stags)
Martin Guptill (Auckland Aces)
Ross Taylor (Central Stags)
Neil Broom (Otago Volts)
James Franklin (Wellington Firebirds) 
Daniel Vettori (Northern Knights)
Jaob Oram (Central Stags)
Ian Butler (Otago Volts)
Daryl  Tuffey (Auckland Aces)
Tim Southee (Northern Knights)
Andrew McKay (Wellington Firebirds)