New Zealand have suffered a massive blow on the eve of their Test series against England as the experienced fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has been ruled out of the two-match series due to a suspected back stress fracture.
Another pacer Matt Henry will also miss the first Test at Bay Oval as he awaits the birth of his first child, New Zealand Cricket said on Tuesday. The uncapped duo of Jacob Duffy and Scott Kuggeleijn have been called into the squad and will arrive in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the opening day-night Test, which starts on Thursday.
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said that Jamieson's suspected back stress-fracture was picked up in an MRI scan and is a reoccurrence of the injury that ruled him out of the England Test tour in June.
Jamieson has returned to play, after he sustained the injury in England, for the Auckland Aces in the Super Smash and Ford Trophy as well as last week's New Zealand XI warm-up match against England in Hamilton.
"It's really gutting for Kyle to have this happen after he'd put so much hard work into getting himself back on the park," Stead said. "Since the injury in June we've certainly taken a cautious approach to managing his return with regular monitoring by our medical staff which has included scans.
"While Kyle's not feeling any pain, the evidence is pretty clear he has a stress-fracture and so he'll return to Christchurch today and have a CT scan on Friday before we decide on the next steps."
Batter Tom Blundell along with Henry Nicholls have also been delayed in joining the team due to Cyclone Gabrielle. While Henry is expected to return to New Zealand's camp ahead of the second Test of the series in Wellington that starts on February 24.