Cricket: Shellshocked Mills faces his demons

Kyle Mills admits he can't afford to be thinking about no-balls when he's running in to bowl to Sachin Tendulkar. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A battered Kyle Mills is willing to confront his demons once again, though a bruised Daniel Flynn may be denied the opportunity to face India in the second cricket test starting in Napier tomorrow.

Flynn was a virtual spectator at New Zealand's practice yesterday before leaving midway through for scans on the left hand damaged by Indian pace bowler Ishant Sharma while scoring a dogged 67 on Saturday during the first test loss at Hamilton.

The 23-year-old was unable to bat in the nets or take part in fielding drills, returning to training late in the session equipped with the scans.

They confirmed deep bruising and ligament damage which are clearly hampering his ability to hold the bat properly.

Selector John Wright witnessed Flynn's problems, conveyed the news to convener Glenn Turner and late yesterday former test opener Jamie How was summoned as cover. A decision on Flynn may not be made until shortly before the toss at McLean Park.

How, who averages 23.36 from 18 tests, was chosen as the stand-by first drop ahead of fellow-test discard Peter Fulton.

While's Flynn's issues are purely physical, Mills admits he has technical and mental issues to address before he attempts to avoid another savaging by India's ruthless top order.

The 30-year-old may owe his retention to uncapped Brent Arnel's poorly-timed side strain and Jacob Oram's continued unavailability.

One of captain Daniel Vettori's most experienced bowlers, Mills made little effort to mask his inadequacies as he reflected on the least-memorable episode of his 19-test career.

Mills has sustained harsh treatment since India launched their tour, continuing in Hamilton with both bat and ball.

A golden duck and then his dismissal on the last ball of day three as nightwatchman were bad enough, but it was his swing bowling that proved the major disappointment.

After relatively economical figures in the one-dayers at Hamilton and Auckland, the perils of overstepping emerged at Seddon Park.

Mills would have dismissed Gautam Gambhir on the first ball of the second day had he not no-balled - the second of five for the innings.

He took one for 98 from 22 overs - the most expensive analysis from New Zealand's quartet of fast bowlers - in India's first innings and then delivered 2.2 overs for 21 as the tourists romped to a 10-wicket victory.

Mills, a stand-out performer during the drawn Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series in Australia last month, acknowledged his indifferent form against the Indians was a concern.

"It was pretty disappointing all round," he said. "I'm a big rhythm bowler, I really need my rhythm and it wasn't there in that last test match. I was bowling two sides of the wicket, which in international cricket is not good enough."

Mills and bowling coach Shane Jurgensen analysed his run-up yesterday in a bid to eradicate the no-balls.

"I've made some slight adjustments. I was bowling no-balls and I was always close to bowling no-balls [last week]," he said.

"I was thinking about that the whole way in on my run-up. I'm really trying to rectify that because you don't really want to be worrying about that running into Sachin Tendulkar."

- NZPA