Jesse Ryder is closing in on an international recall after being named in a New Zealand XI to take on the West Indies in a warm-up match later this month.
Ryder joins seven Black Caps, including captain Brendon McCullum, in the three-day match which begins on November 27 at Lincoln University's Bert Sutcliffe Oval.
National selection manager Bruce Edgar says it's important Ryder is back playing at this level.
"It will be great to see Jesse back in a New Zealand team environment but it's simply another opportunity for him to show that he can perform consistently," Edgar said.
It has been eight months since Ryder was assaulted in Christchurch, when he suffered serious head and lung injuries and was placed in an induced coma in intensive care for three days.
Ryder, who has 18 Test, 39 one-day and 20 Twenty20 appearances for the Black Caps, has since served a six-month ban for testing positive to a performance-enhancing stimulant.
He was facing a two-year ban, but said he did not know the weight-loss pills he took in March contained a prohibited stimulant and he had not taken them to enhance his performance.
The New Zealand XI named on Friday comprises mainly Otago and Canterbury players, who don't have any scheduled Plunket Shield or Twenty20 match in late November.
Edgar says the three-day match has a dual purpose for the New Zealand batsmen.
"This warm-up match will give our batsmen some critical match time as well as giving them a sighter of some of the West Indian bowlers."
Otago's Aaron Redmond and Aucklander Jeet Raval will open the batting for the West Indies, as the visitors won't have a full XI in the country at the time due to their ODI squad still being in India.
New Zealand's squad for the three-Test series will be named next Monday.
New Zealand XI: Brendon McCullum, Todd Astle, James Baker, Dean Brownlie, Mark Craig, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham, Andrew Mathieson, Hamish Rutherford, Jesse Ryder, Anurag Verma.
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