Blackcaps fast bowler Trent Boult has set his sights on test cricket this summer, after returning home from a successful Indian Premier League campaign.
Boult arrived back in New Zealand on Thursday as an IPL champion and final MVP, and will spend the next 14 days in managed isolation in Christchurch, although he can resume training after three days.
"I am targeting those test matches as usual," Boult says. "It's my favourite format, so I want to make sure I'm ramping up towards them."
The Northern Districts fast bowler is excited to spend Christmas literally at home for the first time in nine years, with the Boxing Day test against Pakistan scheduled for Mt Maunganui's Bay Oval.
"To have a Boxing Day test just a couple of hundred metres down the road from my house is pretty cool," he says. "The inaugural test last year was a good start and I'm sure the boys are looking forward to picking up where we left off."
Nine months after the Blackcaps' last match, Boult, 31, can't wait to line up for his country again.
"You know how happy I get when I put the black cap on and run around, so it's an exciting summer ahead," he says.
"There are some big names coming and some big teams, so I'm really looking forward to test cricket.
"We love test cricket in New Zealand, so hopefully we get some good crowds and some good performances."
But Boult may have to wait a little longer to pull on the black limited-overs strip, with the nine IPL Kiwis - and 10 West Indians - due out of Christchurch isolation the day before their T20 series begins in Auckland on November 27.
"I'm not actually sure what time of the day we get out on the 26th," he says. "We got in here [quarantine] at 5pm on Thursday, so that might mean we won't get a flight until the next day.
"I'm pretty sure you can't fly and play on the same day, so it's a pretty unique situation.
"Once I get out of here later this month, hopefully, I get a couple of days' family time, then we go into camp on November 30."
Join us on November 27 for live updates of the Blackcaps v West Indies T20 series.
