The Black Caps' stellar year of Test cricket hasn't gone unnoticed across the Tasman, with Australian outlet Fox Sports naming three Kiwis in their "XI of the Year".
Having sealed a series victory over Sri Lanka in Christchurch and risen to number three in the ICC's Test rankings , Black Caps trio Tom Latham, captain Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls have all been named in the best XI of the past 12 months.
Opening the batting, Latham averaged 59.81 in 2018 - scoring two centuries, including a career best of 264 not out against Sri Lanka in Wellington. He amassed 658 runs, with two hundreds and two fifties.
Down at number three, Williamson was an obvious selection for the Australian pundits, having plundered 651 runs from just seven Tests - and also having scored two centuries.
Lastly, Henry Nicholls' consistency against Pakistan and Sri Lanka earned him the spot of the number five batsman, with his average of 73.11 among the best of world cricket in 2018.
Most notably though, was the fact that just two Australian players were present in their own list: wicketkeeper Tim Paine and spinner Nathan Lyon.
Fox Sports Test XI of 2018: 1. Tom Latham (New Zealand), 2. Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka), 3. Kane Williamson (New Zealand), 4. Virat Kohli (India), 5. Henry Nicholls (New Zealand), 6. Tim Paine (Australia), 7. Jason Holder (West Indies), 8. Nathan Lyon (Australia), 9. Kagiso Rabada (South Africa), 10. Jasprit Bumrah (India), 11. Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan).
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