New Zealand seam attack could be significantly depleted for England Test series

GEORGE DOBELL IN MOUNT MAUNGANUI: Kyle Jamieson didn't train on Monday and was instead assessed by New Zealand's medical staff, while Matt Henry is in Christchurch awaiting the birth of his first child.

New Zealand's plans for the Test series against England could be hit by the unavailability of several players.

Already without Trent Boult, who has chosen to maximise his earning potential in franchise leagues in the latter part of his career, they also have concerns over the availability of fellow seamers Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry. 

Jamieson didn't train on Monday and was instead assessed by New Zealand's medical staff, while Henry is in Christchurch awaiting the birth of his first child. 

Jamieson hasn't played a first-class match since June, when he was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the lower back. He bowled increasingly impressively in the two-day warmup match against England at Hamilton and was expected to play one of these Tests, but it is unlikely any risk will be taken with him.

New Zealand are still hopeful Henry will be available, but it is hard to be certain at this stage.

^{Kyle Jamieson is an injury concern for New Zealand [Getty Images]}

New Zealand were also without Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell, Blair Tickner and Will Young at training on Monday. Nicholls' flight from Christchurch was cancelled due to poor weather, while Blundell was given more time to spend with his family after the birth of his second child. Tickner and Young were driving from Napier and missed training after it was brought forward by several hours.

New Zealand had hoped to train under lights in the evening. But the awful weather forecast persuaded them to train in a marquee at the ground in the morning instead. It was expected that increasing winds would render that impossible later in the day and possibly on Tuesday, too. 

"It's disappointing the weather is the way it is, but there's a lot of people up at the top of the North Island who are a lot worse off than us," New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said. 

NEW ZEALAND v ENGLAND FIXTURES

February 16-20: 1st Test (Mount Maunganui)

February 23-27: 2nd Test (Wellington)

Meanwhile, Stead praised the success Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have enjoyed with the England team but said he relished his side's chance to test themselves against them.

"I think it's great what Brendan and Ben have done with this English team," Stead said. "They've managed to take a team that was really struggling and turn it into something now that's probably the talking point of world cricket. And I think that's great.

"It's also a great way for us to test where we're at against these guys as well. They're obviously playing with a lot of confidence."

^{Matt Henry is awaiting the birth of his child [Getty Images]}

While England defeated New Zealand 3-0 in the series played during the English summer, Stead made the point that his side had opportunities to win all three games 

"I think they have actually grown more since we've played them and are probably playing an even more aggressive style," stead said. "But what I do remember about those Tests is that in all three of them, we went into the last day where each team could win. That was exciting for us to be put in those situations.

"Look, England ended up winning 3-0 and that doesn't look so good on paper, but there was a lot of really good cricket played by both teams there.

"It's about us. We need to stick to what we do well and understand that England are going to play a very, very aggressive style. So for us, it's about putting the ball in good areas and making them hit to areas that we want them to hit.

"So, we're certainly looking forward to what's ahead of us. It's a great challenge when you come up against the team that's playing with the confidence that they are and for us, that's exciting to play against."