Henry Nicholls in doubt for Black Caps test tour of England due to calf injury

Wellinton: Henry Nicholls is in doubt for the Black Caps’ test tour of England due to a calf injury.

The team depart for the UK on Saturday and Sunday and at a pre-tour camp in Mt Maunganui coach Gary Stead revealed the lefthanded middle-order batter had suffered the injury to his right leg when going through some running drills on Monday.

“He’s having an MRI scan later today, so we’ll know more after that as to the extent of it,” Stead said on Tuesday.

“But he’s got it strapped up and I guess the next 24 to 48 hours will give us an indication of how serious that is.”

Nicholls has become a key man at No 5 in the test lineup. In 46 tests, the 30-year-old averages 40.38, with 12 fifties and eight hundreds, including one in his most recent series, against South Africa in February.

The Black Caps start their tour next Friday with a four-day warmup match against Sussex, with another four-day fixture against a First Class Counties Select XI following from May 26.

The first test is at Lord’s from June 2, with the second at Trent Bridge from June 10 and the third at Headingley from June 23.

Languishing at sixth on the World Test Championship ladder, New Zealand essentially need a 2-0 or 3-0 series win in England if they are to be much chance of defending their title, with just two-test series to come against Sri Lanka (home) and Pakistan (away).