Kyle Jamieson ruled out of England series, Matt Henry to miss pink-ball Test

Jamieson has suffered a suspected stress fracture in his back, and will sit out the whole series, while Henry is expecting his second child and will be permitted paternity leave. Jacob Duffy and Scott Kuggeleijn have been called up

New Zealand have confirmed both Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry will miss the first Test against England.

Jamieson has suffered a suspected stress fracture in his back, and will sit out the whole series, while Henry is expecting his second child and will be permitted paternity leave.

Jacob Duffy and Scott Kuggeleijn have been called up to the Blackcaps squad.

With Trent Boult also missing, having turned down a central contract with New Zealand Cricket to focus on his earning potential in the franchise arena in the latter stages of his career, the Kiwis will rely on a second-string seam attack in the pink-ball Test at Mount Maunganui.

^{Kyle Jamieson, right, is out of the England Test series; Matt Henry, left, will miss the first Test [Getty Images]}

^{Jacob Duffy has been called up [Getty Images]}

"It's really gutting for Kyle to have this happen after he'd put so much hard work in to getting himself back on the park," said New Zealand head coach Gary Stead. Jamieson's injury is a recurrence of that which he suffered during the tour of England last year.

"Since the injury in June we've certainly taken a cautious approach to managing his return with regular monitoring by our medical staff which has included scans.

"While Kyle's not feeling any pain, the evidence is pretty clear he has a stress fracture and so he'll return to Christchurch today and have a CT scan on Friday before we decide on the next steps."

Tom Blundell is set to link up with the Blackcaps squad on Tuesday, having been stranded elsewhere in the country when flights on the north island were grounded due to Cyclone Gabrielle.

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