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Cricket

Vettori suffers injury scare to bowling hand

04/05/2008

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has injured his bowling hand 11 days before the start of the first Test against England at Lord's.

Vettori sustained a deep cut to the index finger of his bowling hand, his left, while fielding against Essex in the Black Caps' warm-up match.

Team manager Lindsay Crocker says the spinner should be fine to take part in the first Test on May 15th but admits the injury will rule him out of the next match against England Lions on Thursday.

Crocker explained: "He's cut the first knuckle, at the top, across it on the underside of the finger.

"There was a bit of blood but we thought maybe he might have done some other damage - so we wanted to get it X-rayed to see maybe whether there was a problem with the tendon or bone."

Luckily for the Kiwis the X-rays showed no serious damage and Vettori only required two stitches to the finger, which Crocker expects to be taken out in about a week.

Vettori could still be suffering some discomfort from the injury which could affect his ability to grip the ball – which is vital to generating spin.

He will also be short of match fitness in the longer form of the game having missed the start of New Zealand's tour to play in the Indian Premier League.

But Crocker remains confident in Vettori's condition, saying: "He wanted to play both these two games to get quite a few overs in. He's not going to get that opportunity now but should be right to play in the first Test."

The Kiwis had a productive day in the field against Essex before Vettori's injury, restricting the hosts to 251-9. Michael Mason took 4-59 and Iain O'Brien claimed 3-46 as they both staked a claim for a place in the Test side. Ravi Bopara was the pick of the batsmen scoring 66.