England legspinner Sarah Glenn has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against New Zealand and at least the first two ODIs due to concussion.
Glenn picked up the concussion when she landed heavily after dropping a catch in the third T20I in Nelson. She did not immediately leave the field and came on to bowl the next over but then went off. At the change of innings she was subbed out for Holly Armitage.
Glenn did not feature in the fourth T20I in Wellington and at most will have the opportunity to play one more game on the tour if she is available for the last ODI in Hamilton on April 7.
“She will now follow the ECB Graded Return to Play Protocols and will miss at least the fourth (27 March) and fifth (29 March) IT20 matches as well as the first two ODIs (1 April and 4 April),” an ECB statement said. “No replacement has been called up to the squad at this point.”
England were able to replace Glenn with leading spinner Sophie Ecclestone in Wellington after the players who had featured in the WPL became available. Alongside Ecclestone, that included Danni Wyatt, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Alice Capsey, who all played the fourth T20I which saw England wrap up the series with a commanding 47-run victory.
Offspinner Charlie Dean claimed four wickets and when everyone is available England could field a strong spin attack of Dean, Ecclestone and Glenn, supplemented by captain Heather Knight, which bodes well for their prospects at the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.
Maia Bouchier, who hit a career-best 91 to seal the series, picked up a quad problem during her innings but said she was hopeful of being available for the final T20I on Friday.
Meanwhile, New Zealand have an injury concern of their own after captain Sophie Devine sustained a quad strain in Wellington which limited her to one over and she did not bat. Devine will have an MRI scan on Thursday to determine the extent of the injury.
“Probably just a small niggle,” Devine said at the post-match presentation. “Just looking ahead with the one-dayers being really important with WC [World Championship] points. I probably wanted to get back out there but someone with a bit more of a rational brain kept me off.”