Trent Boult likely to play second Test as UK government relaxes quarantine norms

The first Test match between New Zealand and England at the Lord’s in ended in a draw. During the first game, New Zealand were without the services of their ace pacer Trent Boult. After the postponement of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League, almost all the UK-bound NZ players in India traveled to the United Kingdom.

However, Boult took the flight to New Zealand and decided to skip the Test series against England to spend some quality time with his family. The 31-year-old reached the UK last week and is currently undergoing a mandatory quarantine period. Meanwhile, it is learned that the UK government has provided some relaxation in their quarantine protocols.

With relaxed quarantine rules, Boult is expected to come out of his isolation period earlier than expected. This potentially means that the pacer might be available for selection during the second Test match, scheduled from June 10 to June 14. If Boult is allowed to feature in the second Test, it will be good practice for the left-arm seamer before the World Test Champion final against India.

“There’s a chance. There are a few things that have changed, the British Government has relaxed their quarantine stipulations, so Trent (Boult) is out of isolation three or four days earlier than we expected,” said Blackcaps coach Gary Stead after the first Test of the series ended in a draw.

Boult keener than he was a week ago because he’s over here now: Gary Stead

“The original plan we had in place with all the information we had at the time was that we weren’t going to play him in the second Test, but coming out of that isolation probably three days earlier than what we originally anticipated does put a slightly different spin on it. So we’ll weigh up the pros and cons and work out with Trent what we think is the best course forward to make sure he is fit and raring to go for that final.”

The first Test match saw the Kiwi team playing with four seamers including the likes of Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson, Colin de Grandhomme, and Neil Wagner. However, with the inclusion of Trent Boult, the management will have a big selection headache. When the head coach was questioned regarding the same he added that it is too early to make a decision.

“We still haven’t made a firm call on that, and we will give it the next 48 hours before we work out what we do with Trent in that second Test. Trent is keener than he was a week ago and that’s because he’s over here now, he’s part of the environment. Probably right now it’s a bit early to make that call, he’s only been here 48 hours and probably still suffering a little bit of jet lag.”