England monitoring cyclone forecasts ahead of first Test against New Zealand

England are monitoring forecasts around Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle, which is expected to cause a “widespread and extreme weather event” ahead of the first Test against New Zealand.

The cyclone, which has been upgraded to a category three in the past 24 hours, is heading towards the North Island and is expected to bring gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and unsafe sea conditions between Sunday and Tuesday.

England are due to make the 90 minute journey from Hamilton to the coastal city of Mount Maunganui, which hosts Thursday’s series opener against the Black Caps, on Sunday afternoon and are keeping abreast of developments.

The PA news agency understands no changes have been made to their travel plans so far but updates are being followed closely and further checks will go ahead before departure.

New Zealand’s national weather agency MetService said in an alert: “This is expected to be a widespread and extreme weather event. Very heavy rain, damaging winds and large waves are forecast for many parts of northern and central New Zealand. It is important to keep up to date with the latest MetService forecasts in case any changes are made, or further areas are added.

“Warnings have been issued, including MetService Red Warnings our highest alert saved for the most intense weather events.”

Citizens have been advised to prepare a ‘grab bag’ of essentials and stock up on three days of food and bottled water as a precaution, with the prospect of flooding and power outages in some areas.

On a cricketing note, England’s planned training sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are already in doubt. When the squad visited the ground last week they made use of an indoor marquee which shielded them from the elements but that may not be available to use in high winds.