Stokes set to face Black Caps

Ben Stokes has settled back into the England cricket squad and is being primed to play for them in the opening ODI against New Zealand next week.

Captain Eoin Morgan confirmed controversial allrounder Stokes won't play in Sunday's T20 tri-series match against the Black Caps in Hamilton.

He also won't play in Wednesday's final against Australia at Eden Park, if England were to beat New Zealand at Seddon Park and qualify.

The 26-year-old has plenty of time to get match-fit for the first of five ODIs on February 25, also in Hamilton.

"Yes, there's a good chance he'll be fit for that," Morgan said on Saturday.

"He only got off a flight yesterday. He'll be taking the next couple of days really easy.

"There's a big risk of injury over the next few days so he'll be taking a light load."

Morgan confirmed Stokes had received a warm welcome from teammates when he arrived in New Zealand on Friday having attended court in Bristol earlier in the week.

Stokes pleaded not guilty to affray at Bristol Magistrates' Court on Tuesday and boarded a plane at Heathrow the following day ahead of an anticipated on-field return later this month.

Morgan said a group of players gathered with Stokes in a room at the team hotel.

They kept half an eye on coverage of Australia's remarkably high-scoring win over New Zealand at Eden Park which kept winless England's tournament hopes alive.

"We chipped golf balls around, talked crap and had the game on in the background," Morgan said.

"It's always good to see Ben back. A lot of us have seen him in the interim that he's been away but a lot haven't."

Kiwi-born Stokes last played for England in an ODI against the West Indies in Bristol on September 24.

Later that night he allegedly became involved in an altercation outside a nightclub, leading to a lengthy police investigation during which he was deemed unavailable for selection.

Stokes went on to miss the entire 4-0 Magellan Ashes defeat, the subsequent ODI campaign and the ongoing T20 tri-series.

Meanwhile, Morgan confirmed he had shaken off the groin problem that had sidelined him from the last two tri-series games and will play on Sunday.

The news is not so good for paceman Liam Plunkett, with an ongoing hamstring injury ruling him out of England's tour of New Zealand.

Plunkett will fly home after the recurrence of a strain during the team's 12-run loss to New Zealand in Wellington last Tuesday.

The 32-year-old suffered a grade one tear in his left hamstring midway through last month's ODI series against Australia but remained with the team with the hope of featuring in the Twenty20 tri-series.

A replacement for the Yorkshire seamer is expected to be named next week.

Trans-Tasman T20 Tri-Series

First T20I Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets. Scorecard

Second T20I Australia beat England by five wickets. Scorecard

Third T20I Australia beat England by seven wickets. Scorecard

Fourth T20I New Zealand beat England by 12 runs. Scorecard

Fifth T20I Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets. Scorecard

Sixth T20I NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18. Scorecard

Final Australia v TBC, Eden Park, February 21. Scorecard

Australia squad: David Warner (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

England squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Mark Wood.

New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Anaru Kitchen, Colin Munro, Seth Rance, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Ben Wheeler.