Scott Styris has called time early on his county season to have his back injury assessed in New Zealand. A decision will then be made as to whether he will travel to India for next month's Champions Trophy.
Styris was not due back until September 30 when he, along withthe other English-based players, was to join the Black Caps in camp in Christchurch.
But, after aggravating an existing injury when playing as a batsman only for Middlesex in a one-day match last week, the decision has been made to bring back Styris immediately, Black Caps manager Lindsay Crocker said.
"He hasn't got a history of back trouble so we don't know what it is," Crocker said.
He said all the bowlers who have recently been under injury clouds - Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills and Shane Bond - would go into camp four days before the rest.
"We need to get their 'loads' up before the tournament and at that time, we can truly assess how they're going. We'll make a final evaluation then," Crocker said.
Squads for the Champions Trophy had to be named well in advance for commercial reasons but Crocker said it also meant John Bracewell and his selectors had time to call in replacements should they be needed.
If Styris was unavailable, Central Districts batsman Ross Taylor looms as the most logical replacement.
A longer shot would be veteran Chris Harris, though in many ways it makes sense. He could bat anywhere from No 4 down in the order and could take the pace off the ball, in a manner similar to Styris, at the bowling crease. He also has a tonne of experience on the subcontinent.
For development purposes, though, Taylor must surely be first rickshaw off the rank.
