Kane Williamson not playing: Why are Tim Southee and BJ Watling not playing today’s 2nd Test vs England at Edgbaston?

Kane Williamson not playing: The visitors have made as many as six changes to their Playing XI for the decider Test at Edgbaston.

During the first day of the second Test of the ongoing New Zealand’s tour of England in Birmingham, England captain Joe Root has won the toss and chose to bat.

“Looks like a good wicket on the surface of things. We’ve got to bat well and negotiate this first session as well as we can. Really looking forward to this week. 17,000 people back in a cricket ground, Jimmy [James] Anderson making historym” Root told BBC about this match making veteran fast bowler James Anderson the most capped English player ever.

As far as their Playing is concerned, Root confirmed that fast bowler Olly Stone has replaced Ollie Robinson for this match. While all of Stone’s four ODIs had come in 2018, the last of his two Test matches had come against India in Chennai earlier this year.

Why is Kane Williamson not playing the Edgbaston Test?

Owing to injuries and workload management, New Zealand have made as many as six changes to their Playing XI. The same were confirmed by stand-in captain Tom Latham, who will be leading the Black Caps for the third time in Tests as Williamson’s replacement.

It is worth mentioning that Williamson had aggravated his long-standing elbow injury in the first Test and has been rested as a precautionary measure ahead of the ICC World Test Championship final match.

Much like Williamson, all-rounder Mitchell Santner was also ruled out of this match due to a finger injury on Tuesday. Veteran wicket-keeper batsman BJ Watling, who would have played his penultimate Test at Edgbaston, will miss this match due to a sore back. All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme and fast bowlers Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson have all been rested to give opportunities to reserve players.

As a result, batsman Will Young, wicket-keeper batsman Tom Blundell, all-rounder Daryl Mitchell, spinner Ayaz Patel and fast bowlers Trent Boult and Matt Henry have been included into the Playing XI.