New Zealand's preparation for their all-important test series against England has suffered another blow, with the opening day of their warm-up match against Sussex rained out.
With many of their frontline players still contesting the Indian Premier League and middle-order batter Henry Nicholls nursing a strained calf, the Blackcaps have been further rocked by a wave of COVID-19 that will see Nicholls, fast bowler Blair Tickner and bowling coach Shane Jurgenson sidelined for five days.
"They're all feeling OK, but unfortunately, at the moment, they've been struck down with the virus," said coach Gary Stead. "All we try and do is minimise and mitigate the risk that's out there.
"We have protocols in place that we've been following, but I guess it's the nature of the virus that it's highly contagious."
New Zealand's players have avoided mass gatherings and events with a high risk of exposure, as well as wearing masks indoors with people outside of the environment and unable to social distance.
The whole party will undergo further COVID testing for the next three days.
The four-day match against Sussex has now been reduced to three, with a second hit-out against FCC XI scheduled to begin on May 26 and the first test at Lord's on June 2.
After winning the inaugural World Test Championship last year, the Blackcaps suffered costly home defeats to Bangladesh and South Africa, and desperately need to win both tests against England, who have just appointed former NZ captain Brendon McCullum as their new coach.
