KEY POINTS:
BRISBANE - Kyle Mills has sent the first ripple of apprehension through the New Zealand one-day squad after revelations of a potentially season-ending knee injury.
Mills, brought over to the tri-series as a late replacement following a patella tendon problem in his left knee, was yesterday on the verge of being sent back home for surgery, a decision that would rule him out of the remainder of the tri-series, and the World Cup.
The Auckland right-hander is being prescribed painkillers in an effort to ease the discomfort in the joint, but has been unable to sleep for three nights and will return home if his condition doesn't improve quickly.
Mills, who took one for 72 in his comeback game against Australia in stifling temperatures at Perth, has been one of New Zealand's biggest success stories over the past 12 months, and - fitness permitting - was an automatic selection for the World Cup.
"His knee is sore," coach John Bracewell said yesterday. "He's going to try some painkillers today to see if he can get any relief. It aches through the night and is causing concern.
"If the painkillers don't work he'll probably go home, have his operation and miss the World Cup. So it's a big day for Kyle Mills."
Bracewell explained that, although the injury wasn't aggravated by Mills' bowling, it was causing the paceman so much discomfort that it was getting to the stage where a decision might need to be made.
"The condition of the injury hasn't changed at all - it's whether he can deal with the pain," Bracewell said. "We know that, regardless of what he does, the injury will get no worse. It's just about what he can deal with, and at the moment it's pretty sore.
"Because he's unable to sleep, it's making things very difficult for him. He can get through his bowling all right - but he's just not getting any rest or recovery."
If Mills is ruled out of the World Cup, what was shaping as a reasonably straightforward squad selection will receive a couple of discussion points, with several players coming into contention as a replacement.
Presuming the 15 players involved in the tri-series have the inside running, Auckland bowling all-rounder Andre Adams would seem the most likely to benefit from Mills' absence, having already been involved in the first half of the competition.
That would mean a pace attack comprising Shane Bond, James Franklin, Mark Gillespie, Michael Mason, Jacob Oram and Adams, with part-time support offered by the likes of Scott Styris and Craig McMillan.
But if Bracewell isn't convinced about the credentials of Adams - or Mason for that matter - he could be tempted to include former front-line paceman Daryl Tuffey, on the grounds that he has experience in the West Indies and the World Cup, and has 90 ODI wickets to boot.
There's also a chance, given the likely condition of the Caribbean pitches, that Bracewell might opt for another slow bowler, in which case an opportunity might arise for veteran Chris Harris, or combative Otago off-spinner Nathan McCullum.
