Conway flies home for birth of child, expected to be available for second Test

Devon Conway will travel 23,000 miles round trip to Wellington to attend the birth of his second child in between Tests, but New Zealand expects him to be available for the second Test in England next week at The Oval.

Conway made 1 and 41 in New Zealand's 115-run loss in a low-scoring first Test at Lord's. Since then, he and his wife Kim have made the long trip back home to give birth to their second child.

"BLACKCAPS batter Devon Conway has briefly returned home to New Zealand to welcome the birth of his second child," New Zealand stated in a statement on Wednesday. Conway will spend some time at home with family before flying back to London ahead of the second Test against England at The Oval, starting Wednesday 17 June."

New Zealand's players have been given time off in the UK after their defeat in the first Test. The squad are due to train at The Oval on Friday, before another day off on Saturday, and then three further training days before the second Test starts on Wednesday.

Tom Latham, their captain, said after the Lord's Test that he was hopeful to have "a full bowling attack to pick from" at The Oval after Matt Henry suffered back spasms on the opening day, limiting his involvement in the match.

"I think it's a day-by-day case with Henners," Latham said. "Fingers crossed, he keeps progressing the way he has from day one to where he is now [on day four]. We now have some extra time to hopefully get him right, and then, hopefully, we'll have a full bowling attack to choose from once more."

The build-up to the second Test has been dominated by the off-field chaos that has engulfed the England team this week, with Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson not considered for selection at The Oval after their involvement in a late-night incident at a London nightclub and Joe Root stepping up as interim captain.