Cricket: Mills gets through fitness testing

Kyle Mills

Kyle Mills will take his place in the New Zealand one-day squad today after passing a fitness test yesterday.

The Auckland all-rounder's troublesome Achilles tendon was the main reason - along with a raft of less serious concerns, that coach John Bracewell opted to delay the naming of the squad to play Australia until today.

New Zealand Cricket officials were keeping quiet about the outcome of Mills' test yesterday afternoon, but the Herald understands that he bowled without trouble, and was deemed available for selection.

Unless there was more troubling news elsewhere, that should mean Bracewell will name the same 13-man squad for the ODIs that he picked for Thursday night's Twenty20 showdown at Eden Park.

Features of the ODI squad will include the triumphant return of Jeff Wilson after a 12-year international lay-off, and recalls for Craig McMillan and Andre Adams.

Bracewell twice delayed the naming of the squad because of injury concerns, including questions over Mills, Wilson (shoulder), Daniel Vettori (back) and Scott Styris (knee).

He was evidently worried about the lack of cover for the front-liners, given he already had several players sidelined, among them Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Michael Mason and Jacob Oram.

The New Zealand boss also said he was acutely aware of the need to manage some of his more senior but battle-scarred veterans such as Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle and Daryl Tuffey, all of whom have knee problems.

The only remaining question about today's announcement is whether Bracewell might try to cover all eventualities by naming an enlarged 14-man squad, and releasing a couple of players the day before the game.

If he does, that might open the door for someone such as Wellington all-rounder James Franklin, who starred for the North Island in Sunday's Island of Origin contest.

New Zealand launch the series against Australia with the Twenty20 contest on Thursday before the teams start the one-day series.

One-dayers

Saturday, Wellington (d/n)
February 22, Christchurch (d/n)
February 26, Auckland (d/n)
March 1, Wellington
March 5, Napier