Trent Boult did not train on day two of New Zealand's camp in Mount Maunganui; Boult, it is understood, was feeling unwell and stayed away as precaution. Ross Taylor said he was hopeful the pacer would be fit to go on the third day of the camp, which is running from July 19 to 24 at Bay Oval with cricketers from the national men's and women's teams based in the North Island.
"I think he's just tired from his eight overs bowling at us yesterday," Taylor joked, adding, "Obviously, with what's going around, you've got to be a bit smart around things like that. Hopefully he's fine and raring to go tomorrow."
Taylor and Boult were two of eight men's players to attend the first half of the North camp, alongside Colin de Grandhomme, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner. The second half of the six-day camp will have Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Jimmy Neesham, Will Somerville and Will Young taking part.
The camp will give the two groups of men's players, as well as seven women's players - Anna Peterson, Katie Perkins, Lauren Down, Holly Huddleston, Hannah Rowe, Rosemary Mair and Natalie Dodd - the chance to get a feel of the turf again, even while being protected from the elements in the New Zealand winter. A marquee tent has been set up at Bay Oval, over the outdoor nets, meaning the players could train despite it raining on Monday.
"I know the girls down South [Lincoln] had really good conversations with the boys regarding different ways to play the game, so, yeah, it's awesome to be able to share that with them" Hannah Rowe
New Zealand's bowling coach Shane Jurgensen, who is part of the support staff present at the camp, explained the men's camp had been split in two to limit the number of players present. "Geographically, with the way things are set out, we've got more [players training] on the North Island. We split this camp into two for that reason," he said. "For now it's a temporary [tented] structure, we've got two nets. The bigger structure will come in next year.
"We want to make sure we maximise our time with the guys, give them every opportunity over three days, and then we have the second group coming in later in the week."
Jurgensen, who was part of the camp in Lincoln for players from the South Island last week as well, said that from a skills point of view, work has begun on tweaking bowling plans and habits to meet the new playing conditions - such as the ban on saliva to polish the ball - in the era of Covid-19. "We're trying to adjust to potential new rules, in my department, with the bowling," Jurgensen said. "We've got to look after the ball in a different way now, we've got to come up with some new deliveries. So this week's been a good starting point."
Rowe, the seamer, said it was good to get back on turf, and to pick the brains of the men's players. "We've all been training indoors. It's really good to get that opportunity to get back on grass. If we didn't have the marquee up here, we'd be back indoors [due to the rain]," she said. "Also, to share facilities and obviously to learn off [the men's players] as well... I know the girls down South [Lincoln] had really good conversations with the boys regarding different ways to play the game, so, yeah, it's awesome to be able to share that with them."
In all, New Zealand have six national camps scheduled this winter, three each in the north and south islands, in their bid to shake off the effects of the pandemic-induced lockdown.