The Black Caps are confident top-order batsman Kane Williamson will be fit to play in the opening match of the three-Test home series against the West Indies.
Williamson, who has been recovering from a thumb injury, has been named in a 13-man squad for a series that begins in Dunedin next Tuesday.
The 23-year-old fractured his left thumb while fielding in a one-day international in Bangladesh four weeks ago and missed the subsequent tour to Sri Lanka.
While the original prognosis was that he would be out for six weeks, he has made sufficient progress to be included in the squad.
National selection general manager Bruce Edgar says Williamson will need a final fitness clearance closer to the opening Test but the signs are promising.
"Kane has been in the nets batting and bowling and getting his intensity levels up," Edgar said on Friday.
"We're confident he should be right come Tuesday."
Williamson again showed his value to the New Zealand batting line-up in the drawn two-Test series in Bangladesh in October, when he scored a century and ended with an aggregate of 250 from three innings.
Should he be ruled out, the Black Caps will have back-up in the recalled Aaron Redmond.
The last of Redmond's seven Tests came against Australia in December 2008, when he hit his highest Test score of 83.
So far this season, the 34-year-old has notched a century and a half-century in four first-class innings for Otago.
"Aaron has made a good start to the Plunket Shield to date and, on top of the 67 he scored yesterday for the New Zealand XI, we felt he was the best top-order batting cover," Edgar said.
Lead strike bowler Tim Southee returns to the Test arena after ankle surgery.
Southee tuned up this week with a match haul of 6-79 in the Northern Knights' seven-wicket win over the Central Stags.
There is one specialist spinner in the squad in Ish Sodhi, who had an encouraging start to Test cricket in Bangladesh.
Edgar said he and coach Mike Hesson were keen to see the 20-year-old legspinner get another chance if the conditions were right at University Oval.
Test squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Peter Fulton, Aaron Redmond, Hamish Rutherford, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.
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