Cyclone Gabrielle forces New Zealand team to practice without several players ahead of 1st Test against England
Feb 13, 2023
Mount Maunganui [New Zealand], February 13 : Ahead of the first Test against England at Mount Maunganui, Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc on the travel plans of a number of New Zealand players and the side trained on Monday morning at Bay Oval without Tom Blundell, Henry Nicholls, Matt Henry, Will Young, Blair Tickner as sweeping rains and high-speed winds caused disruptions in movement across the North Island.
New Zealand Cricket confirmed that Tickner and Young were making their way to the stadium via a car from Napier while Nicholls was due to arrive on Thursday from Christchurch as his original flight was cancelled.
Blundell is currently in Wellington with his family following the birth of his second child and Henry is in Christchurch waiting for the birth of his first child. There is uncertainty as to when Henry will join the squad.
Situated on the eastern entrance to Tauranga Harbour, Mount Maunganui has not been affected as badly by the cyclone, but bad weather forced both teams to train in the Bay Oval Indoor Grass Training Facility. New Zealand was forced to shift their plans of evening training forward due to worsening winds.
While there is a forecast for a break in the rain for Wednesday, further disruptions are expected when the Test, a day-night one, gets underway on Thursday.
International long-haul flights were given a go-ahead to make a landing in Auckland on Monday, a lot of short-haul flights have faced cancellation. Air New Zealand has cancelled all domestic flights till Tuesday. All regional flights from and to Tauranga (which services Mount Maunganui), Hamilton and Taupo are also cancelled for the same time period.
"We have got a number of players that are still arriving here at the moment," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. "So the cyclone that is happening at the top of the North Island has had a wee bit of an impact on travel for some people. It is disappointing the weather the way it is but there is a lot of people up at the top of the North Island who are a lot worse off than us," added the coach.
NZ Test squad for the series: Tim Southee (c), Michael Bracewell, Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson and Will Young.
