New Zealand play the first game in Galle, starting on September 18 and would be looking to win their first away Test since 2019. Speaking ahead of the first Test match, Southee said that Herath has been working closely with the NZ spinners - Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel for the bilateral series. Hearth, who has the most Test wickets behind Muttiah Muralitharan in Galle is one of the greatest spinners of all time. Herath's inputs will be crucial for NZ, who recently saw their Test against Afghanistan in Greater Noida, earlier in September. "We've had a bit of a break from Test cricket since the end of our home summer and now we've got an important part in terms of the Test championship cycle," Southee was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "We've got eight games between now and December, so it's an exciting times for us as a Test side and tough times ahead of us - here in Sri Lanka obviously, India in India and then England at home," he added. The captain expressed disappointment for not being able to play against Afghanistan in what could have been their first ever Test match. Southee saw the silver lining and said that the team has been together in their free time, relaxing ahead of the stressful schedule. "Yeah it was disappointing [not to play against Afghanistan] but we still spent a week [in India] which we got some positives out of. We got some training in, some great training here. We spent some time together as a Test side - been a while since we've been together - so to have that time, and bonding over that time in India was important as well," he said. The captain spoke in detail about New Zealand's spin bowling unit and the role that Herath could play in that. The NZ side have a total of 6 spinners in their squad. While Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel are the two frontline spinners, the likes of Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell offer further options. "Herath a guy who's taken over 100 Test wickets on this ground, and been a Sri Lankan great. We've got three left-arm spinners in the squad, who he's been working closely with, along with our other spinners," Southee said. "I think historically here, Galle in particular, spin has played a pretty big part," Southee said. "But as pace bowlers if you can come here and do well, that's a tough challenge but a very rewarding challenge," he further added. "You look at the balance of squad, we've got specialist spinners, we've got guys at the top of the order that can offer spin options, as well as four quality seam bowlers that offer different options as well. I think we've got a number of bases covered, I guess it's just figuring out what balance is the right one to go in with in these conditions," Southee spoke about the options he had in his side. NZ Squad vs Sri Lanka Tim Southee (captain), Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young.