At No. 8, we reach one of the most exciting fast bowlers in New Zealand cricket. Will O'Rourke. Still young and relatively early in his international career, O'Rourke has already shown enough to suggest that he could become one of the defining fast bowlers of New Zealand's next generation. What makes him so dangerous is the combination of pace, bounce, movement and accuracy. He isn't simply a bowler who relies on conditions to help him. O'Rourke has the ability to create some

There aren't many cricketers in world cricket who can change a Test match in three different disciplines. Glenn Phillips is one of them. At No. 9, Phillips becomes the first player in this countdown whose ranking is driven heavily by X-factor. His explosive batting, increasingly effective off-spin and world-class fielding make him one of the most versatile cricketers in the New Zealand setup. More importantly, Phillips is beginning to grow into his career as a Test cricketer.

Henry Nicholls is one of the most polarising players in New Zealand Test cricket. On paper, a player with more than 60 Test matches, thousands of runs and years spent batting alongside Kane Williamson should probably rank much higher than No. 10. But cricket isn't played on reputation. For much of his Test career, Nicholls has struggled to consistently produce his best cricket against the world's strongest nations. While there have been memorable innings and periods of genuin