Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the upcoming five-match T20I series against England with seamer Tim Southee named as New Zealand’s skipper in his stead.

It will be the second T20 series in a row where Southee will fill in as skipper, with the bowler having led to the Blackcaps to a 2-1 victory in Sri Lanka recently.

The cause for Williamson’s omission is a hip injury, according to New Zealand head coach Gary Stead.

“We’ve been monitoring the injury for a while now and it’s the same issue that ruled him out of the final Test against Bangladesh back in March,” Stead stated while announcing the squad for the series.

“It’s disappointing timing for Kane at the start of an exciting Kiwi summer, but we feel it’s the right decision with a busy season ahead.

“We’re fortunate to have someone experienced like Tim who can comfortably step in and take the reins, as he successfully did on the recent tour of Sri Lanka.”

New Zealand have opted to rest pace spearhead Trent Boult for the first three T20Is against England with Lockie Ferguson making a return to the squad for the first time since his injury in the 2019 World Cup.

Boult will return for the fourth and fifth T20 clashes with Ferguson set to make way for his return. Boult will play in a Plunket Shield clash for Northern Districts before that in a bid to get ready for the upcoming Test matches against England and Australia.

“In working with Trent and looking at the season ahead, we feel another four-day game will provide him with the best preparation for the upcoming Test series against England and Australia,” Stead explained.

Pacer Blair Tickner, who made his T20I debut against India at the start of the year, has been called up to the Blackcaps squad for the second time.

The first T20I between New Zealand and England will take place at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on November 1.

BLACKCAPS T20 squad

Tim Southee (c), Trent Boult (Games 4 and 5), Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson (Games 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner.