Follow UsAt the pre-tour camp in Mt Maunganui, the New Zealand team scheduled to depart to England received an injury scare. New Zealand’s middle-order mainstay Henry Nicholls picked up a calf-injury at the training session, with the batter’s status set to be revealed after the MRI scan on Tuesday.
The southpaw emerged as a vital cog of the Kiwi setup, averaging 40.38 after 46 Tests, including showing his scintillating form against South Africa earlier in the year, with a century.
"He's having an MRI scan later today, so we'll know more after that as to the extent of it," Stead said on Tuesday. "But he's got it strapped up and I guess the next 24 to 48 hours will give us an indication of how serious that is."
New Zealand’s series against England will kick-off in under a week after the IPL final, on June 2 at Lord’s with the next two Tests in Trent Bridge and Headingley. The Kiwis will kick-off the tour with a warm-up clash against Sussex, with a four-day encounter. However, it is yet to be ascertained whether Indian batter, Cheteshwar Pujara will be part of the playing XI for that clash.
The BlackCaps will next face a First-Class Counties Select XI on May 26 before the series kicks-off at the Lord’s on June 2.