"I was texting with him last night" - Gary Stead says he'll speak to Trent Boult about New Zealand future

New Zealand coach Gary Stead said he'll have a chat with pacer Trent Boult regarding his international cricket future and the upcoming three-match T20I series against Australia. Stead also confirmed that Boult likely wouldn't be selected for the Tests against South Africa due to a lack of recent first-class experience.

Boult asked to be released from the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) central contract in 2022 and since then has been a freelancer, playing across T20 leagues on contracts.

He's currently playing for the MI Emirates in the UAE's ILT20 league, which will end on February 17, four days before the first Trans-Tasman T20I.

"I was texting with him last night actually," Stead told reporters. "Trent and I are going to have a conversation this week just around the future and what that looks like for him and where it fits for us as well. We're still to have those, but we will connect this week and will work out. He could be available but I'm not 100% sure."

On the South Africa Tests, which begin on February 4, he said:

"Again I will have a conversation with Trent but at the moment, I think probably not. It's very hard to see how you come from a T20 diet back into Test consideration with no cricket before that."

In Boult's absence, Ben Sears and Lockie Ferguson are likely to get more chances. Sears who has impressed immensely in T20Is recently, has 58 wickets from 19 first-class matches at an average of 27.03.

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"He will be alright" - Gary Stead on Kane Williamson

Stead also confirmed that Kane Williamson, who suffered an injury during the Pakistan T20Is and was ruled out of the second half of the series, would likely come back for the South Africa Tests. He also said that his injury was only 'minor' and the Blackcaps rested him to not risk aggravating it.

"I'm confident he will be alright," the coach said. "He's probably got another day or two before he starts back into training and it was a minor niggle, which is a good thing. So, we didn't want to aggravate it and didn't see the point of aggravating it with the important series that are ahead. He's obviously a key player and we know that and we want to make sure we've given him every chance of being available."

Stead also said his team won't take South Africa's second-string side lightly, especially considering that New Zealand have never beaten the Proteas in a Test series.