Cricket: Boult ruled out of England tour

Trent Boult, centre, has been ruled out of the England tour with a back injury.

Trent Boult has been ruled out for the remainder of the one-day international series against England due to stress on his back. He is being sent home as a precaution tomorrow.

No replacement has been added to the squad.

The 25-year-old suffered discomfort after the second match which New Zealand won by 13 runs via Duckworth-Lewis Method to level the series 1-1.

Scans are yet to confirm a diagnosis.

Before the third match overnight, Boult had been New Zealand's best bowler in the series, taking six wickets at 18 and conceding 5.4 runs per over. No teammate had taken as many wickets or gone for less than a run a ball.

His ODI performances backed up the tests where he was joint man of the series with Alastair Cook. Boult took 13 wickets at 24.84.

That test workload of 116 overs, plus seven matches in the Indian Premier League as an $814,000 acquisition for the Sunrisers Hyderabad has been significant.

This is not the first time Boult has suffered back problems. He was diagnosed with a stress fracture after making his debut tour with New Zealand to Australia in 2009.

In other team news, Colin Munro comes into the New Zealand squad as a replacement for Corey Anderson. Munro has been playing for Worcestershire on a country contract. He joins the squad for the final two ODI games and the T20.

Last night England won the toss and batted in the third match at Southampton. Left-arm pace bowler Ben Wheeler made his debut as the country's 185th ODI cricketer.

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