Black Caps hopeful injured seamer Matt Henry will feature again in Lord’s test against England

Friday, 5 June 2026

New Zealand seamer Matt Henry suffered back spasms on day one at Lord's, managing to bowl only four overs before leaving the field, leaving the team hopeful but uncertain about his return later in the match.

In a memorable return to test cricket, Kyle Jamieson led the bowling attack by taking 5-62, helping to skittle England out for just 140 runs.

Despite their bowling success, the Black Caps struggled heavily in response on a tricky pitch, collapsing to 61-6 at stumps on a fast-moving day where 16 wickets fell.

The Black Caps are hopeful injured seamer Matt Henry will play a further part at Lord’s this week.

Henry managed just four overs on day one of the opening test against England in London on Thursday night (NZT), before he left the field with back spasms.

While there is no time line on the possibility of him again bowling in the test, fellow bowler Kyle Jamieson, who shared the new ball with Henry, was hopeful.

“It’s a shame for him to go down and hopefully we’ll get him back at some point in this test match,” Jamieson said at stumps.

He was the bright spot for the Black Caps during a rain-interrupted yet fast-moving opening day of the three-test series.

Jamieson snared 5-62 in his long-awaited return to test cricket, having last played red ball cricket for New Zealand in 2024, due to a second stress fracture in his back.

However, after skittling England for 140 inside 40 overs on a slow, low-bouncing surface, the Black Caps slumped to 61-6 in response at stumps.

“Moving day has shifted from day three to day one, I suppose it’s probably hard to process it at this point of time,” Jamieson said after 16 wickets tumbled on day one.

“We’ve got a bit of work to do in the morning with the bat, and I’m sure we’ll have another crack with the ball as well.”

Whether that includes Henry remains unclear for now.

If not, Jamieson got plenty of help from Nathan Smith (3-38) and Will O’Rourke (2-25), and a pitch which isn’t likely to get a heck of a lot better for batting in a hurry.

Back in the test wickets for the first time since 2024, Jamieson reflected on his journey back into the team after taking his sixth five-wicket bag.

“When you work your butt off and it [injury] happens again, you’re sort of staring through the barrel of what would I do different?” he said

“But through the process of outsourcing my rehab, uncovering what went wrong, it gave me a lot of confidence that it wasn’t really me that was the issue…there was a whole bunch of reasons why it occurred.”