Black Caps to face weakened English test side

England will rest their IPL contingent from the New Zealand test series to give them a break from covid-controlled environments and have also banned the word 'biobubble' to help with the mental challenge of playing during a pandemic.

There are ten England players currently finishing ten days of hard quarantine in hotels spread across London, Heathrow, Gatwick and Reading after returning from India last week while Eoin Morgan has moved from the Maldives to Bahrain as he goes on a circuitous route home via a country not on the red list.

Of the ten Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran would either be first picks, or in contention, for the New Zealand test series while Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali also played test cricket on the recent tour to India. But because the players have spent so long in quarantine and at various times on tour last winter, they will be given a break during the two-test series against New Zealand which starts on June 2 at Lord's.

Woakes, as a bowler, needs overs to strengthen his body for test cricket, especially after spending ten days living a sedentary life in a hotel room with only 15 minutes daily exercise.

The plan is for England to pick a 16-man squad on Wednesday, the first to be chosen with head coach Chris Silverwood in charge of selection, for both New Zealand tests.

Picking Jofra Archer remains the hardest decision with England wary of risking his elbow even though he bowled sharply for Sussex on Friday in his first competitive match of the summer.

The England squad have been told they will still have to observe covid protocols even if the rest of the country has opened up. But they will no longer refer to their living environment as a 'biobubble' in an effort to dispel negative thoughts about being in isolation in a hotel.

Last summer the England players were locked away in what the England & Wales Cricket Board described as a bio-secure bubble, dining at separate tables in the hotel restaurant, and even wearing rubber gloves to eat.

Some restrictions have been relaxed and biobubble has been replaced by the phrase 'team environment' to make it sound a more welcoming, relaxed place to live.

England are also conscious of the fact covid will haunt the rest of a busy year, particularly when they go to Australia later this year where borders are still closed to foreign visitors.