New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme ruled out of England tour

New Zealand have been dealt with a huge blow as their all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme has been ruled out of the remainder of the England tour. He has sustained a tear in his right plantar fascia (heel) and will take around 10 to 12 weeks to recover. The visitors have called up Michael Bracewell as his replacement who was initially brought in as cover for Henry Nicholls. Nicholls had tested positive for COVID-19 after landing in the United Kingdom.

Coming back to De Grandhomme, he injured his heel while bowling during the play on Day 3 during the Lord’s Test and didn’t have any part to play in the rest of the game. New Zealand went on to lose the Test match by five wickets with Joe Root slamming a sensational ton in the second innings helping the hosts to chase down 277 runs.

Head coach Gary Stead confirmed the news of Colin de Grandhomme getting ruled out of the tour and admitted that the team will miss him in the next two Test matches. However, he was also confident of Bracewell will deliver whenever needed while also informing that he is match ready.

“It’s a real shame for Colin to suffer this injury so early in the series. He’s a massive part of our Test side and we’ll certainly miss him. It’s great to be able to call on someone like Michael who’s been with the squad for the past month and is match ready,” Stead said according to Cricbuzz.

Will Bracewell make his Test debut?

Colin de Grandhomme’s injury is certainly a huge blow for New Zealand as they don’t have a like-for-like replacement for him in the squad. Bracewell is an off-spinner while the other all-rounder Daryl Mitchell was already part of the playing XI in the first Test. The visitors might well opt for an extra pacer in either Matt Henry or Neil Wagner to beef up their bowling. However, they will be short on batting in that case and the top six will have to shoulder the responsibility to score runs.