The Black Caps opener Martin Guptill has suffered a side strain playing County Cricket and has been ruled out of the opening fixture of New Zealand's tour of England, a three-day warm-up match against Somerset in Taunton.
The Black Caps batsman Martin Guptill during the Cricket World Cup. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 28-year-old, who was recalled to the Test squad following his record-breaking World Cup, suffered the injury during his double century knock of 227 for Derbyshire against Gloucestershire at Bristol last week.
During that innings, Guptill hit an orthodox cover drive and felt an immediate sharp pain in his right side abdominal.
He was unable to continue batting and underwent an ultrasound scan which revealed a small tear in his abdominal muscle.
The Black Caps physiotherapist James Montgomery believed that the injury could leave the World Cup's top run scorer on the side-lines for 2-3 weeks, but he was optimistic of a faster turnaround.
"We are hopeful that we will be able get Martin ready to play at Worcester (the Black Caps second warm-up game on May 15) but we will see how he recovers," said Montgomery.
"With good treatment and a reduced workload, the goal is to get him back on the park for some game time so he is available for selection for the First Test at Lords."
The first warm up match of the tour against Somerset, which starts on Saturday, is a First Class fixture.
Guptill will be reassessed ahead of the match against Worcestershire which is not a First Class match so players can be interchanged throughout the game.
The first test at Lord's starts on May 22nd.
