NZ vs ENG | Kyle Jamieson ruled out from series with back stress fracture

New Zealand are set to host England for two Tests starting February 16 and would be hoping to exact revenge for the drubbing handed to them in Europe last year. However, the Blackcaps suffered a major blow even before the series started with the news that key pacer Kyle Jamieson would not be taking part in the series. The 28-year-old suffered from a recurrence of a back-stress fracture, further delaying his comeback to international cricket since he first suffered the injury in June last year. 

Jamieson recently played in the Super Smash and was also part of New Zealand’s squad in the two-day warm-up match against England. New Zealand head coach Gary Stead revealed the tall pacer was not experiencing pain but faced an uncertain timeframe for recovery. 

"It's really gutting for Kyle to have this happen after he'd put so much hard work into getting himself back in the park. 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," he was quoted saying by ESPN Cricinfo.

New Zealand will also miss Matt Henry for the first of two games with the pacer back home with his wife for the birth of his first child. Jacob Duffy and Scott Kuggeleijn are the two fast bowlers who have made it to the squad instead, alongside regulars Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, and Blair Tickner.