New Zealand coach Gary Stead expects IPL-bound players' availability for the Test series against England

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead hopes the IPL-bound Kiwi players will be available for the Test series in England in June. The Kiwi coach believes shifting from white-ball cricket would be a significant turnaround; however, he feels it has become the norm.

12 players are set to fly to India for the 15th season of the IPL, commencing from the 26th of March. Hence, most Kiwi players won't play in the ODI series against the Netherlands, concluding in the summer. With the Test series against England starting on the 2nd of June, New Zealand have a turnaround time of only three days.

Back to England in 2022! The team will face @englandcricket next June in three Tests as part of the @ICC World Test Championship.

Test 1 - @HomeOfCricket
Test 2 - @TrentBridge
Test 3 - Headingley

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Nevertheless, Stead says such adjustments are the norm today and believes they should get three or four days to be ready for the Tests.

"It will be a tight crossover. If it is that tight it's not ideal, but it is what it is, the guys are used to it. They're used to adjusting to different formats quickly, so it will be the same situation. I think there'd still arrive there on the 30th of May, or the day after, and they've still got three or four days. I think players will be available coming from the IPL final," Stead told Stuff.

Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Tim Seifert, James Neesham, Finn Allen, and Glenn Phillips have IPL contracts.

After a 1-1 draw against South Africa at home, the Blackcaps will be wary of England in their three-match series. However, they notably won the series last year in a two-Test tour before lifting the World Test Championship trophy.

"Kane Williamson is going really well" - Gary Stead

Stead further claimed that skipper Kane Williamson remains on track for a full recovery and has dealt cautiously with it in the last few months. The 50-year-old expects his availability for the IPL from the start. He said:

"Kane is going really well. He's hitting balls for about 45 minutes now. The danger we faced through the test series was the worst thing that could have happened for us is he bats for four or five hours and he aggravates it again. That's why it's been a progressive loading programme for him. T20 cricket is probably the more ideal format for him to start for us. We're expecting he will be pretty close to playing right from the start of the IPL."

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Williamson has been out of action since the tour of India last year due to an elbow injury. The 31-year-old missed the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand due to that.