New Zealand vs England: Black Caps call-up Scott Kuggeleijn on eve of first Test - 2015 rape charges explained

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has defended the controversial decision to call up Kuggeleijn
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England have travelled to New Zealand to compete in their first Test series of 2023 and on Tuesday 14 February, New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson was forced to pull out of the series due to a recurrence of a back injury.

Jamieson felt the issue following on from the warmup match against England last week, a match in which England’s Harry Brook hit five sixes in one over, and has since been forced to withdraw from the two match series. Matt Henry will also miss the first Test due to the delayed birth of his first child.

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In their places, New Zealand have brought in the uncapped Scott Kuggeleijn and Jacob Duffy. The Black Caps’ coach, Gary Stead, has since defended the controversial decision to bring Kuggeleijn into the mix, due to the charges that were brought against the 31-year-old fast bowler in 2015.

Here is all you need to know about Kuggeleijn ...

Who is Scott Kuggeleijn?

Born in 1992, Kuggeleijn plays first-class division cricket for Northern Districts and has featured in both white-ball sides for his country. He previously played for Wellington but following the 2016-17 Ford Trophy, where he took the most wickets in the tournament, he was awarded a contract with his current side.

In March 2019, Kuggeeijn was called up to the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League as a replacement for South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi and two years later, he was signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement for Kane Richardson.

The bowling all-rounder was named in New Zealand’s ODI squad for the 2017 series against Ireland and two years later, he was named in the T20I squad for a one-off match against Sri Lanka. He has since gone to take five ODI wickets in two matches and 16 T20 wickets in 18 matches.

Kuggeleijn for Northern Districts in 2017Kuggeleijn for Northern Districts in 2017
Kuggeleijn for Northern Districts in 2017

What happened in 2015?

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In 2015, Kuggeleijn was arrested on charges of rape and was later tried twice with the jury unable to reach a verdict on the first occasion and subsequently found not guilty at the retrial in 2017. As reported by The Telegraph, the complainant told the court she said no “dozens of times” on the night the incident took place.

When giving evidence, the fast bowler said: “I tried (having sex) twice, like she might have said ‘no, no’ a few times but it wasn’t dozens of times. Kuggeleijn also added the complainant was “provocatively dressed” and “looking for male attention”.

The 31-year-old was booed when playing T20 cricket for New Zealand shortly after the case and the criticism resurfaced on social media once again when this latest decision was announced.

In response to the criticism, Stead has said: “I got given the players I can choose from and we have gone with a resilient character from a bowling point of view and he is a guy when you lose two key bowlers, you look around and ask who are the guys who can do a job for us internationally and he is one who can.”

Why isn’t Trent Boult playing?

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Last year, the New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult turned down a central contract in order to make himself more available for franchise leagues. He has not, however, retired from international cricket and lives in Mount Maunganui, the location of the first Test match. During New Zealand’s Test series against England last summer, the 33-year-old was his side’s most successful bowler. Stead has said of the paceman: “We have spoken to Trent Boult recently and it has been decided since he gave up his contract that we will give priority to the locally contracted players and we have done that on this occasion.”

When is New Zealand vs England?

New Zealand will take on England on Wednesday 15 February with play set to begin at 1am GMT. BT Sport will have all the action from the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui and is available to watch from £25/month.

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