ENG vs NZ: New Zealand coach Gary Stead hopeful of Kane Williamson’s availability in Test series against England

ENG vs NZ – Gary Stead on Kane Williamson’s availability in Test series: New Zealand coach Gary Stead hopes to have captain Kane Williamson back for their three-Test tour of England in June but says they will need to manage his workload to prevent recurrence of an elbow injury. Follow ENG vs NZ Live Updates on InsideSport.IN

Williamson, 31, missed home series against Bangladesh and South Africa with a tendon injury in his left elbow that has been troubling him over the last 18 months.

ENG vs NZ: New Zealand coach Gary Stead hopeful of Kane Williamson’s availability in Test series against England

While Kane has returned to action in the Indian Premier League, Stead said there was no need to rush his return to the ‘Black Caps’.

IPL 2022: Covid under control, BCCI mulls multiple venues for IPL 2022 Playoffs, Ahmedabad likely to host final, decision by next week

“The catch-22 is, Kane comes back early, scores a hundred, and his elbow is gone again, and then we’d be in the same place,” Stead told reporters on Tuesday.

ENG vs NZ: New Zealand coach Gary Stead hopeful of Kane Williamson’s availability in Test series against England

“Kane, like any of us, needs breaks at certain times. He’s dying to play cricket for New Zealand again, I can absolutely assure you of that, but we can’t burn him out in the future.

“We have to be smart around those things.”

Williamson, who reached out to India great Sachin Tendulkar and Australia’s Steve Smith for advice on recovering from elbow injuries, told reporters in February he was so tired of dealing with the elbow there were times he wanted to “cut it off”.

RR vs RCB LIVE – IPL 2022: Glenn Maxwell joins RCB training, BANTERS around with Yuzi Chahal but will not play today: Check Why?

ENG vs NZ: New Zealand coach Gary Stead hopeful of Kane Williamson’s availability in Test series against England

Tom Latham led the side against Bangladesh and South Africa, as well as in the limited-overs home series against Netherlands, in Williamson’s absence.

“At the moment, Kane is just out of that role because he hasn’t been available for us,” Stead said. So when Kane comes back, I expect him to be captain for us again.”

ENG vs NZ: New Zealand coach Gary Stead hopeful of Kane Williamson’s availability in Test series against England

Follow ENG vs NZ Live Updates on InsideSport.IN