Will Trent Boult play during England vs New Zealand 1st Test match at Lord’s Cricket Ground?

With him yet to arrive in England, will Trent Boult play during England vs New Zealand Test series opener at the iconic Lord’s?

New Zealand have announced their 15-member squad for the imminent three-match Test series against England, with the opening Test match to take place at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground, from June 2 (Thursday).

While the likes of Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner, Rachin Ravindra and Hamish Rutherford have been released from the initial 20 players list, fast bowler Trent Boult, who was part of the Rajasthan Royals playing 11 during the IPL 2022 grand finale versus Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday, has also been named in squad.

Southpaw batter Henry Nicholls, who is yet to recover from his calf-injury, has also been named in the squad, despite his availability for the opening Test match remaining under dark clouds.

Resultantly, the management has added Michael Bracewell as the 16th player in the squad, as the replacement cover for the 30-year-old.

Will Trent Boult play during England vs New Zealand 1st Test match

Meanwhile, the Kiwi pacer Trent Boult, who is scheduled to arrive in London late on Monday, after being part of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) who ended up as runners-up of IPL 2022 on Sunday, is also highly unlikely to feature in the series opener at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.

“Trent arrives later today and we’ll see how he scrubs up, but I’ve had conversations with him leading up into this. We’ve been through this before with different players. I guess it’s not something that’s new to us and we’ll deal with that tomorrow and work out what’s best for us going forward with Trent Boult, in particular, ” remarked New Zealand head coach Gary Stead.

While Stead’s statement with respect to Boult’s availability is a bit ambiguous, a statement released by the team management suggested his inclusion in the playing 11 for the first Test was “unlikely”.

Trent Boult is considered as unlikely to be available for Thursday’s opening Test at Lord’s after playing in the IPL final #SSCricket

— SuperSport Blitz (@SuperSportBlitz) May 30, 2022

While the Kiwis would be led by their veteran batter Kane Williamson, England are set to start afresh with their new coach-captain duo of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes.

New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Cam Fletcher (wk), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Will Young, Michael Bracewell (as cover for Nicholls).