Cricket: Black Caps struggling with schedule

NZ coach Mark Greatbatch says some of his players are struggling to cope with the current schedule. Photo / Mark Mitchell

New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch admits some of his cricketers are struggling to cope with the current schedule amid a mounting injury toll.

New Zealand went into today's fourth Chappell-Hadlee Trophy one-day international sweating on the fitness of allrounder James Franklin and paceman Daryl Tuffey to try and balance their side who trailed 1-2 in the five-match series against Australia.

Team physiotherapist Kate Stalker has been one of the squad's busiest members since the transtasman series began as Jacob Oram (knee), Daniel Vettori (neck), Brendon McCullum (back), Ross Taylor (hamstring), James Franklin (hamstring) and Daryl Tuffey (calf) have all had their injury dramas.

Most are frontliners, with Oram (out for the series), Vettori, McCullum and Taylor also contracted to the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) which begins next week.

The New Zealand cricketing injury toll has long been a topic of conversation and consternation, and while the answers were somewhere out there, Greatbatch was keen to be proactive.

"Some of our guys aren't able to sustain the schedule at the moment and there's plan in place over the next year to try and improve that. It comes down to doing a bit more work on tour, trying to get the guys more attuned at practice time," he said.

"For example, a bowler does about 18km in an ODI and at training we're only doing about eight or nine. It's about trying to up the level of preparation so they can actually sustain it over a longer period of time."

The current five-match ODI series is squeezed into 11 days which is a torrid schedule, with a six-day gap to follow after Saturday's series finale in Wellington before the first test begins the following Friday at the Basin Reserve.

New Zealand certainly aren't complaining about the scheduling because such intense transtasman series are there to be savoured, and their opponents are probably the busiest side in world cricket.

They are also without such key players as Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Nathan Bracken and Callum Ferguson due to injury.

Vettori remained baffled by the age-old injury question which has dogged New Zealand side for the past decade.

"It's hard to know, it's been going on so long. I wish I had an answer," he said.

The injury toll had meant an extended squad of 15 for the final matches in the ODI series and given players like gloveman Gareth Hopkins a chance to prove he wasn't just a journeyman backup to McCullum as he fronted up strongly in the Auckland and Hamilton matches.

"As a captain - Stephen Fleming would say this as well - I'm sick of having to test depth issues," Vettori said.

"We want our full team available as often as possible and it hurts you. But it's also creating opportunities if you look at the likes of Gareth Hopkins who's performed very well on his few chances.

"Maybe there are opportunities there, but it would be better if there were 15 fully fit guys competing for places."

- NZPA