The entire player is expected to need six weeks of breathing before he can run again
Colin de Grandhomme is in a race to qualify for New Zealand’s tour of England in June, which includes two trials against the hosts as well as a World Test final against the World Cup. India, after he decided to undergo surgery on his right ankle on Thursday.
NZC medical manager Dayle Shackel has confirmed that the runway needs six weeks of breathing after surgery to start running, and another two weeks before it can bowl again.
The ankle injury bothered de Grandhomme during the 2020-21 season, keeping him out of international action for an all-home summer that included a visit to West India, Pakistan and Australia. He played domestic cricket for Northern Territories, but only as a special batsman.
With the absence of de Grandhomme, Daryl Mitchell has been in a seam bowling alley in the New Zealand Test team, playing three of their four Tests in the summer and getting a hundred virgins against Pakistan in Christchurch.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead, however, has said de Grandhomme remains a key part of the team’s plans.
“We are all devastated because Colin must have missed this international summer through injury,” he said. “His contributions to BLACKCAPS over the last few years are outstanding in all three forms and he has been a huge part of our team.
“His skills with the ball, power with the bat and catching in the field make him one of the top rounds in the world so we naturally want him to see the right injury and be it is available to us again.
“It is too early to say what this might mean for our trial trip to England at the end of May and June, but we hope that after surgery and rehabilitation there will be an opportunity he has to make the squad. “