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New Zealand Cricket (NZC), on Wednesday, has announced the 20-member squad for the upcoming Test tour of England, starting June 02 in London. Regular skipper Kane Williamson, who hasn’t played a red-ball fixture since November last year due to an injury in the elbow, made a comeback to the outfit.
Ahead of the three-match Test series, both teams will meet in the warm-up games, but five New Zealand cricketers – Williamson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway, who are currently playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, are likely miss out the practice matches on May 20 and 26 respectively. The 20-man squad will be subsequently trimmed to 15 players before both teams face each other in the first Test at Lord’s.
Batting all-rounder Michael Bracewell, who scored 725 and 190 runs in 2020-21 and 2021-22 first-class seasons, has earned his maiden call-up. Wicketkeeper-batter Cam Fletcher and pacer Blair Tickner have also been included in the squad.
“The red-ball tour of England first up is clearly high on our priority list, and we’re looking forward to hitting the ground running over there in a couple of weeks’ time. All going to plan, we will have everyone fit and available for the first Test at Lord’s, and aim to announce our final squad of 15 for that series once we’ve completed our warm-up games,” said head coach Gary Stead in a statement.
“Touring England is always a special occasion with the people, the grounds and the history all making for a wonderful experience. The English are always tough in their own conditions and have many talented players they can call on. There’s a reason we’ve only ever won a couple of Test series over there, and we know we’ll have to be at our very best to do it again,” he added.
Here is the New Zealand squad for England tour:
Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Cameron Fletcher, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Will Young
