England vs New Zealand: Kane Williamson ruled out of 2nd Test, Tom Latham to lead the BlackCaps

Kane Williamson was ruled out of the second Test against England, the New Zealand cricket board confirmed on Wednesday.

Williamson has been left out because of his elbow injury, which has been bothering him for a few months now. In his absence, Tom Latham will leave the BlackCaps in the second Test against England, starting Thursday at Edgbaston.

The decision has been made with the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final in mind, starting June 18, where New Zealand will take on World No. 1 India at the Rose Bowl Southampton.

"Williamson has been managing the injury since first missing matches in March and coach Gary Stead said it was still troubling him," read New Zealand's media release on Wednesday.

"It's not an easy decision for Kane to have to miss a Test, but we think it's the right one. He's had an injection in his elbow to relieve the irritation he's been experiencing when he bats and a period of rest and rehabilitation will help maximise his recovery.

The decision has been made very much with the ICC World Test Championship Final at Southampton in mind and we are confident he will be ready for that match starting on June 18," Stead was quoted in the official release, as saying on the eve of the second Test.

The first Test between New Zealand and England ended in a draw, which was played at Lord's, London. Batting in both the innings, Williamson managed just a total of 14 runs (13 and 1).

Meanwhile, Tom Latham will captain the side for the third time in Williamson's absence, while Will Young has been included in the playing XI and will bat at No. 3.

Moreover, Stead earlier confirmed that ace spinner Mitchell Santner was going to miss the second Test in Birmingham. having cut his left index finger. He had suffered the injury ahead of the two-match Test series against England while playing an intra-squad game but was available for the opening Test at Lord's, where he went on to bowl 23 overs and batted only six balls. Ajaz Patel is the only other spinner in the Kiwi squad.

Devon Conway makes grand entry into ICC Test rankings

It was earlier reported that New Zealand opening batsman Devon Conway has entered the MRF Tyres ICC Men's Test Player Rankings in 77th position with a record 447 rating points, the highest for a BlackCaps batsman on debut and overall, third highest on debut.

The 29-year-old batsman, who notched up 200 and 23 in the first Test at Lord's, entered the ICC list at two points less than RE Foster of England and one less than West Indian Kyle Mayers, according to ICC's official release.

English batsman Foster had hammered 287 on debut against Australia in Sydney in 1903 for the record of 449 rating points while Mayers had scored 40 and 210 not out in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong earlier this year in February to log 448 points.

Meanwhile, Conway, who is currently ranked fourth in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) and 121st in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), has bettered the New Zealand mark of 440 rating points on debut that was etched by by Lou Vincent against Australia at Perth in 2001.

In addition to that, pacer Tim Southee, who claimed his Test career's second six-wicket haul at Lord's, bagged his career-best third position while achieving the third best rating points by a New Zealand bowler. He has gone up to 838 points, with only Richard Hadlee (909) and Neil Wagner (859) having achieved higher bowling points.