The Black Caps may be breathing a sigh of relief England's most in-form cricketer will not be lining up against them when the two teams face off at Lord's on June 2.
Darren Stevens, the oldest professional player in English cricket at 45, has continued his scorching hot form in the County Championship, enjoying an amazing six-hitting day with the bat, while also making Australian Test batsman Marnus Labuschagne's life a misery once more with the ball.
Stevens crashed a thunderous 190 for Kent on Friday to almost single-handedly revive their hopes on day two of their County Championship match with Labuschagne's Glamorgan at Canterbury.
He clocked an astonishing 15 sixes and 15 fours from just 149 balls, as Kent recovered to 307 all out, having slumped to 7-92.
Stevens utterly dominated a partnership of 166 for the ninth wicket with Miguel Cummins, to which the latter contributed just a single.
Then to make his day, he removed Labuschagne, adding to the Australian's dismal run of form, as Glamorgan limped to 2-55 for two at stumps, a deficit of 252.
Stevens, who had also dismissed Labuschagne lbw for 11 during his first match back for Glamorgan at Cardiff in April, again trapped him leg before, for exactly the same score.
Labuschagne looked distinctly disgruntled and had something to say to the umpire as he trooped away following the dismissal.
Stevens is remarkably Kent's leading run scorer (420) and wicket taker (19) this season, which includes two centuries and a five-wicket bag.
He was recently named one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year, alongside the likes of English batsmen Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley, who are both young enough to be his children.
Stevens has never played for England in any format, despite a consistent 24-year career on the county circuit. He also spent time playing for Otago in the 2010-11 season.
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