An offspinner whose cricket career was initially blighted by chronic fatigue syndrome, Mark Craig was a surprise inclusion for New Zealand's Test tour of the West Indies in 2014 when Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel were both unavailable. However, he justified that inclusion immediately, taking 8 for 188 in his debut Test, in Jamaica, and spinning New Zealand to only their second Test win in the Caribbean. His figures were the best by a New Zealand bowler on debut, and he became only the third player from the country - after Stephen Fleming and Mathew Sinclair - to win a Man-of-the-Match award on Test debut.

Craig's call-up came after a Plunket Shield season in which he collected 22 wickets at 39.72 for Otago and also contributed 244 runs in the lower order. Craig had made his first-class debut in 2010-11 after initially making his name in the Twenty20 format for Otago, helping them to win the title in 2008-09.
ESPNcricinfo staff