Matt Henry ruled out: The Blackcaps are in trouble after Matt Henry suffered a rib injury, he has been ruled out of the ongoing ODI series against West Indies.
Henry played 3 ODI’s in July against Ireland and managed to pick up only four wickets after which he played in the Kent in the county cricket. Henry was struggling with pain in his left rib during last week’s training sessions, and since then he has not been able to recover and gain 100% fitness.
He was in the squad for the T20 series against West Indies but was not in the starting XI of the team.
New Zealand Coach Gary Stead hinted that the injury is not that serious and dropping him from the squad is just a precaution for the upcoming games in the future.
Henry will return home and start his rehabilitation process immediately and will look to come back before the ODI series against Australia in early September.
The Head coach said that “It’s a shame for Matt to have to return home at this point of the tour,” “Although the injury is not overly serious, we felt there was a significant risk it would become worse through playing,” “With the upcoming ODI series starting on Wednesday and consisting of three games over five days, we saw it as prudent to bring in a fully fit replacement.” Source-(espncricinfo)
Ben Sears has been called up for the replacement of Henry, Sears has only played six T20s for the Blackcaps and he is yet to make his ODI debut. He is a young and hardworking pacer who can regularly manage to bowl at 140kph speed.
The head coach said that the 24-year-old is an exciting young talent and they like the pace variation and the skills he possesses.
Ben Sears is expected to join the squad on Sunday and fly to Barbados on Monday along with the squad for the three-match ODI series against the West Indies.
