The home team, England had to make a late call for replacements in their Test squad as their regular wicket-keeper batsman Ben Foakes injured his left hamstring. He was set to play his first Test match at home in the upcoming 2-match Test series against New Zealand but he now had to wait a little longer to feature in a Test match at home.
According to ECB, Foakes slipped in the dressing room and sustained the injury. He will now be closely assessed and will work on his rehabilitation process as he is expected to be out of action for around three months from now. England have not considered both Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler, making Ben Foakes the front-runner for the glovework in the upcoming Test series. However, the injury had some other plans for Foakes!
In his place, England have included top-order batsman Haseeb Hameed and wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings. Hameed played all his 3 Test matches in his career so far in the tour of India in 2016 and had displayed exceptional skills with the bat. On the other hand, Billings is still uncapped in this format of the game even though he had some success in the white-ball format.
Meanwhile, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has also updated about the current standing of Jofra Archer: “Archer will commence an intensive rehabilitation period working with the ECB and Sussex medical teams. His progress will be reviewed by his Consultant in approximately four weeks at which point further guidance will be provided as to when he can return to bowling.”
England’s updated squad for New Zealand Tests: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, James Bracey, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Dom Sibley, Olly Stone, Mark Wood, Haseeb Hameed, Sam Billings
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