New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has confirmed that Kane Williamson's arrival has been delayed as he was forced to stay with his Indian Premier League (IPL) team Sun Risers Hyderabad (SRH), following Kevin Pietersen's unavailability.
The maverick England batsman, who was set to join SRH in the last stage of the IPL, sustained a calf injury during the match against Leicestershire and will be out of action for at least two weeks.
The New Zealand team, who are currently touring England, had hoped that Williamson would be released early to travel to UK, but that has been prevented by Pietersen's injury.
Hesson, however, has no concerns about Williamson's lack of preparation for the first Test.
He said that Williamson is a talented and professional cricketer and would be doing a lot of hard work in the IPL, insisting that he is hoping for a good performance from him in the first test, Stuff.co.nz reported.
Meanwhile, the first day of the final practice match of New Zealand against Worcestershire washed out on Friday.