Tom Latham and Matt Henry among New Zealand players to return to training

On the back of England and West Indies successfully playing out the first international game post the Covid-19 wave, New Zealand, on Monday,  became the fourth international team after the two aforementioned sides and Sri Lanka to resume outdoor training. The team, on Monday, started training on a batch-by-batch basis and among the first batch were Tom Latham, Matt Henry and Daryl Mitchell. Skipper Kane Williamson, meanwhile, is said to return to training next week with several other teammates, in Mount Maunganui. 

The players trained at the country's High-Performance Centre in Lincoln and the session also marked the New Zealand side’s first outdoor training session since March, when the Covid-19 pandemic brought the entirety of the sport to an abrupt standstill. 

New Zealand Cricket (NZC), in a statement, confirmed that a total of six camps will be held for the cricketers until September. The New Zealand Women’s cricketers, too, meanwhile, returned to training. 

"New Zealand's top male and female cricketers will return to squad training at the NZC High Performance centre in Lincoln this week, in the first of six national camps scheduled for the coming winter months," read a release from NZC, reported TOI.

"The South Island and Wellington based BLACKCAPS and WHITE FERNS will train at the Canterbury hub this week, while a larger second camp for players further North will commence at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui from July 19.”

New Zealand Training Camps Schedule:

Lincoln:

Camp 1: July 13-16

Camp 2: August 10-13

Camp 3: Early September (Exact date TBC)

Mount Maunganui:

Camp 1: July 19-24

Camp 2: August 16-21

Camp 3: September 6-11.

New Zealand is among the countries that was least-affected by the pandemic, as, till date, the nation has only registered a total of 1,544 and 22 deaths. It was only a few weeks ago that the country was declared ‘Covid free’, although it has, since, encountered fresh cases of the deadly virus.