WELLINGTON: Henry Nicholls will depart for England with the New Zealand squad this weekend but remains a doubt for the first of three Tests because of a calf injury, Black Caps coach Gary Stead said on Wednesday.

There were concerns that the 30-year-old middle-order batsman would miss the tour because of the training injury but scans revealed he had strained rather than torn thecalf muscle in his right leg.

`While it`s a positive that Henry hasn`t torn the calf, the next two to three weeks are going to be crucial in terms of his recovery and subsequent availability for the test series,` Stead said in a news release. `Calves can be a challenge to rehab and we will need to minimise the risk of him re-injuring himself with any return to match action.

`Henry`s obviously an impor-tant player for us at number five and we know he`ll be doing everything he can to make himself available.

Left-hander Nicholls has been a fixture in New Zealand`s middle order for the last five years.

Stead said Nicholls was unlikely to play much part in tour games against Sussex and a First Class Counties XI which precede the first Test at Lord`s from June 2-6.-Reuters