Henry Nicholls has now been ruled out of the first test against England, which starts tomorrow (June 2), according to New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. Nicholls tested positive for Covid-19.
Before leaving New Zealand, Nicholls had been rehabbing a calf injury he sustained in training, and he hasn’t featured in any of the three Test series. Nicholls, 30, has been a regular in New Zealand’s middle order for the past 46 Tests, averaging 40.38 and hitting eight hundreds.
After leaving the IPL early to return home for the birth of his second child, Williamson has rejoined the squad. Meanwhile, New Zealand will want to emulate their 1-0 series victory from last year’s visit. Over the next two weeks, Kane Williamson will seek to set an example for the rest of the squad. Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner, Rachin Ravindra, and Hamish Rutherford, who were part of the 20-player camp for this tour, did not make the final squad.
New Zealand is presently hosting the World Test Championship. The first Test will be played on Thursday against an England squad captained by Brendon McCullum, a former New Zealand captain.
England, who have only won one of their past 17 Tests, will be hoping to kick off the new era with a victory. New Zealand, on the other side, has won two, lost three, and drawn two of their last seven Test matches.
England has recalled experienced fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad for the first Test against New Zealand, which begins on Thursday at Lord’s, while Durham quick Matthew Potts makes his debut. With a combined 1,177 wickets, Anderson, 39, and Broad, 35, are England’s two most successful bowlers of all time.
NEW ZEALAND SQUAD : Kane Williamson (captain), Tom Blundell (wicketkeeper), Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Cam Fletcher (wicketkeeper), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Will Young, Michael Bracewell.
