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MANCHESTER - A Tim Southee illness which places him in doubt has New Zealand scratching their heads over the composition of their bowling attack for the second cricket test against England starting here tomorrow night (NZT).
The 19-year-old Northland pace bowler sat idle at today's training at Old Trafford after being struck down by a mystery bug which surfaced on the final day of the drawn first test at Lord's.
He will have a fitness test at tomorrow's final training when team management will decide whether he's strong enough to make his third test appearance.
"The reason he didn't practice today is because he's had this virus for the past 24-48 hours and he's done some pretty serious throwing up," coach John Bracewell said.
"It's a point of making sure we don't burn away any energy that he was starting to build, to give him a realistic option of being in the test side.
"We won't make a judgement yet on what the team's going to be. We've got pretty good cover in our bowling attack for whatever is thrown in front of us in terms of the pitch. Everybody will be a viable option."
After his memorable test debut in Napier where he took five for 55 in England's first innings then smashed 77 not out, Southee found it tougher at Lord's.
He conceded 59 runs off 16 wicketless overs where he, along with pacemen from both sides, struggled to get consistent swing.
If Southee were ruled out, Iain O'Brien, Michael Mason and spinner Jeetan Patel all enter the frame to join Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram and Lord's man of the match Daniel Vettori.
O'Brien would seemingly be the frontrunner after being named in the 12 for the first test.
Mason took seven wickets and O'Brien six to bowl New Zealand to a 92-run tour match victory over Essex.
The intriguing option is offspinner Patel, which becomes more viable given England spinner Monty Panesar's success at Old Trafford where he's taken 18 wickets.
It would mean the same two-spin New Zealand bowling attack as the first test in Hamilton in March, which the hosts won by 189 runs.
"They (two spinners) showed that in Hamilton that they can compete on a wicket that wasn't really a turning wicket, just a dry wicket," Bracewell said.
"It's a good option for us but we'll see when we're allowed to have a look at the wicket."
After a brief inspection, Bracewell assessed the pitch as reasonably hard with a few plated cracks and the possibility of "scarring" later in the match which could assist spin.
The coach said his team remained in buoyant mood after earning an "honourable draw" at Lord's thanks largely to Jacob Oram's century on day five.
Their first look at the Old Trafford nets came with a backdrop of chanting Manchester United fans pouring down the road outside to their nearby headquarters ahead of the Champions League final against Chelsea.
Meanwhile another star from Lord's, Brendon McCullum, tested his injured left forearm in the nets without incident.
It was initially feared his arm was broken after being struck a nasty blow by a Stuart Broad delivery, but x-rays cleared him and he returned to the crease.
There was still heavy bruising and swelling but McCullum averted any fears he wouldn't play a full part as wicketkeeper and No 5 batsman.
"It's feeling good, I'll wear an armguard next game and it should be fine," McCullum said.
New Zealand (from): Daniel Vettori (captain), Jamie How, Aaron Redmond, James Marshall, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Chris Martin, Iain O'Brien, Jeetan Patel, Michael Mason.
England (from): Michael Vaughan (captain), Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Chris Tremlett.
Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia), Darrell Hair (Australia).
- NZPA
