'New Zealand can cope with injuries'

Lindsay Crocker said on Tuesday his injury-hit squad could survive the fitness problems that have plagued them while in England.

New Zealand tour manager Lindsay Crocker said here on Tuesday his injury-hit squad could survive the fitness problems that have plagued them while in England.

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The tourists only brought 14 players in a 20-strong squad featuring six full-time backroom staff to England.

And Crocker, speaking ahead of the third Test starting at Trent Bridge here Thursday, said: "I don't doubt we probably brought too few players. But we've yet to go outside of the squad."

New Zealand, 2-0 down in the three-Test series after a crushing nine-wicket defeat at Headingley on Monday, have seen spearhead Shane Bond go home without bowling a ball against England.

The fast bowler is still recovering from a stress fracture of the back that has sidelined him from international cricket since May last year.

Meanwhile all-rounder Jacob Oram was unable to bowl at Headingley because of a side strain, a match where left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori tore a hamstring.

Another casualty at Leeds was opening batsman Michael Papps, his broken little left finger ironically the same injury as that sustained by Craig McMillan, the man he replaced.

New Zealand have called up batsman Mathew (sic) Sinclair as cover for McMillan and Papps while left-arm swing bowler James Franklin has also been added to the squad to provide an alternative to Oram and Vettori.

Test bowler Ian Butler has been selected as Bond's replacement for the one-day series, also featuring the West Indies, which gets underway here on June 24.

Test duo Sinclair and Franklin were already playing club cricket in England.

However, Crocker stressed that there were already players in the original squad such as fast bowler Kyle Mills who were still competing for places.

"We've brought players in but we haven't gone outside the squad. Kyle Mills has been under utilised."

He added: "We always knew we had on the ground cover in England except for spin and spin hasn't played a great part in this series.

"Daniel is an integral part of our attack but he hasn't taken many wickets in this series," explained Crocker, who said it was unlikely Vettori would feature at Trent Bridge.

Adding to New Zealand's injury problems has been captain Stephen Fleming's battle with a longstanding hip problem.

Crocker admitted that repeated injections alone offered no long-term solution to Fleming's fitness worries. "He's been in less discomfort than he has been but at some stage he'll need a period of rest.

"But we've got a break at the end of the one-day series of six weeks between then and the ICC Champions Trophy."

Effectively a mini World Cup, the Champions Trophy is due to be held in England in September.