"It's significantly improved" - Kane Williamson on status of elbow injury ahead of Tests vs England

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has asserted that his left elbow is ready to deal with the challenges of Test cricket. New Zealand's latest Test assignment begins on Thursday (June 2) when they take on England at Lord's in the first match of the three-Test series.

The Kiwi skipper missed New Zealand's last five Tests due to a tendon injury, although he featured in the T20 World Cup in the UAE as well as IPL 2022. Williamson is back in charge of the Test squad after Tom Latham stepped in for him during the team's recent red-ball assignments.

Speaking ahead of the first Test, the Kiwi captain said about his recurring elbow injury:

"It's significantly improved, which is the pleasing thing. Obviously having that time out of the game was beneficial to get it back on track somewhat.

"Although it was a very frustrating period of grappling with it, it is nice to be back into full training and back into cricket really, which is really exciting, and back with the team after watching them on the sidelines for a little bit. So that is nice to see that improvement."

The 31-year-old batter's form is a cause for concern for New Zealand heading into the Test series against England. He had a tough IPL 2022 campaign for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), scoring only 216 runs at an average of 19.63 and a strike-rate of 93.50.

Even in a practice match against a County Select XI at Chelmsford last week, he was dismissed for a nine-ball duck. To make matters worse, the Kiwis suffered an embarrassing seven-wicket loss.

Apart from Williamson, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Tim Southee and Trent Boult were also part of the IPL in India. Since Boult was involved in the IPL 2022 final as part of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) squad, he arrived in England on Monday.

His participation in the opening Test thus seems doubtful. Speaking about the left-arm seamer, Williamson said:

"Obviously he's just arrived. He's keen as, but there's a number of things to consider. Trent is obviously a world-class player and we've got a great variety in our bowling attack.

"So, we'll be having a look at the surface and working out what we want to go with, and that balance, and who's all ready to go.”

Boult is a key member of the Kiwi bowling attack, having claimed 301 wickets in 75 Tests.

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"It's a great opportunity for Brendon" - Kane Williamson on McCullum taking over as England coach

There will be a Kiwi flavor in the England camp as well, with former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum taking over as the head coach of the Ben Stokes-led outfit.

Praising his former skipper, Williamson said:

"It's a great opportunity for Brendon, such a positive guy and an amazing leader as well. He does tend to have a strong impact wherever he goes. And clearly the English set-up have seen some strong qualities in him that they want as a part of their set-up.”

Before joining the England Test squad, McCullum was involved with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as their head coach.