Boult eager to get back out on field

Boult only arrived back in New Zealand on Thursday alongside several teammates and West Indies players who had been at the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They are placed in the mandatory 14-day isolation.

All of the players will be tested for the novel coronavirus at least three times before they are scheduled to be released on November 26, one day before the opening Twenty20 match in Auckland.

“I don’t even know what time we get out,” the left-arm quick told reporters on a conference call on Friday. “I know that we finish up here the day before it (the T20 series) starts.

“I am probably just targeting the Test matches as usual. I have got to make sure that I am ready for them. If I am involved in the T20s earlier as well then that will be exciting too.” The coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of New Zealand’s overseas tours this year and Boult acknowledged it has been hard for him not to play any cricket at all for five months before he went to IPL 2020.

Describing himself as someone who “can’t sit still”, he is itching to begin training again at New Zealand Cricket’s high performance centre early next week, pending a negative result from his first COVID-19 test.

Despite a congested playing schedule during IPL, where he helped the Mumbai Indians (MI) to its fifth title, Boult felt he still has some conditioning work to do ahead of the Test series.

“While the workloads probably aren’t quite there for Test match cricket, I definitely feel better off having tasted some cricket,” he said.

“I just need to progress as quickly as I can.”