Stead wary of threat from England

of the tour or all three tests, Daryl Mitchell looms as the logical batting replacement while Rachin Ravindra could be utilised as an allrounder with his left-arm spin.

Some of the New Zealand-based squad of 20 have suffered from Covid-19 in recent months, which has slightly hindered the tour buildup.

There are five members of the Black Caps squad playing in the IPL – captain Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Devon Conway and Mitchell – and Stead said they may be slotted into the two scheduled fourday warmup games before the first test at various times depending on availability.

The Black Caps will likely need a clean sweep of the three tests to stay in contention to defend their World Test Championship crown, something Stead described as ‘‘no different to what we would normally approach’’.

New Zealand Cricket yesterday also announced an extended coaching group for their winter tours, which extends a couple of months after the England series in Ireland (three ODIs and three T20Is), Scotland (two T20Is, one ODI), the Netherlands (two T20Is) and the West Indies (three T20Is, three ODIs).

Dion Ebrahim, Dean Brownlie, Graeme Aldridge and Luke Wright will all feature, as player and support staff wellbeing continues to be prioritised.

Former Zimbabwe international Ebrahim, who took over at the Otago Volts prior to last season, will join Stead, Shane Jurgensen (bowling) and Luke Ronchi (batting) for the test tour of England.

Jurgensen will then lead the tour to Ireland with support from Ronchi and former England international Wright.

Jurgensen and Ronchi will depart for home post-Ireland, with Stead returning and joined by Aldridge (bowling) and Brownlie (batting) for Scotland, the Netherlands and the West Indies, with Wright also assisting for the first two of those.