NZ vs ENG: Trent Boult, Henry Nicholls likely to drop out from first test against England

New Zealand are all set to play a three-match test series against England, starting on June 2 in London.

In the latest developments around the game, pacer Trent Boult and the batter Henry Nicholas are likely to drop out from New Zealand’s final playing eleven versus England for obvious reasons.

Boult, who returned to the national side after playing continuous cricket for the last two months in the Indian Premier League, which ended on May 29.  So the management don’t want him to play a 5-day test match straightway.

Nicholls, on the other hand, has been recovering from injury which he sustained during the practice session before leaving New Zealand.

It’s a testing time for both the teams as New Zealand’s captain made his return to the side in this series after being ruled out of the series against India in November 2021.

While England will play the series under the leadership of newly appointed skipper Ben Stokes.

Earlier, England witnessed a downfall when ICC updated the annual rankings. England was dropped to No. 6 in the ICC rankings which is their lowest Test rating since 1995.

The main reason behind The English downfall was when the team faced 4-0 Ashes humiliation in December and January, followed by a 1-0 series lost to the West Indies in March, and their rating has dropped from 97 to 88 points.

New Zealand Squad:

Kane Williamson (C), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Cam Fletcher (wk), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Will Young, *Michael Bracewell

England Squad:

Ben Stokes (C), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root (wk), Stuart Broad, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes (wk), Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Matthew Potts.