Cricket: Tuffey hopeful, Broom out of World T20

Neil Broom is expected to be out of action for seven weeks. Photo / Getty Images

Daryl Tuffey is hopeful of playing in the Twenty20 cricket World Cup starting in five weeks' time, but his New Zealand teammate Neil Broom has been ruled out after also suffering a broken bone in his hand.

Tuffey will have surgery at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital tomorrow to repair the fourth metacarpal in his left hand that was broken by a Mitchell Johnson delivery in the first test defeat against Australia in Wellington yesterday.

The seamer, who is becoming an effective allrounder after scoring 47 not out in the second innings against Australia, was keeping optimistic, with New Zealand facing their tournament opener against Sri Lanka in Guyana on April 30.

"Hopefully I'll only be out four or five weeks, at best. I'm hoping that I can be available for (Twenty20) selection but I won't know until I see the surgeon," Tuffey told Radio Sport.

But the news was worse for Broom who badly broke his thumb while fielding for Otago against Northern Districts in Whangarei earlier this week.

He was expected to be sidelined for seven weeks, ruling him out of the Twenty20 tournament that concludes with the final in Barbados on May 16.

"It was just a lame bit of fielding. He didn't hit it that hard and just sort of pushed it out to me," Broom told the Otago Daily Times.

"But I got it on the wrong point of the thumb and it dislocated about 90deg out the other way.

"A little bit of bone was poking out the other side, so it wasn't looking that great."

Broom was named in the extended 30-man New Zealand Twenty20 squad after scoring 608 first-class runs at 67.55.

He was dropped from the New Zealand one-day side after scoring 43 runs in the first three Chappell-Hadlee Trophy matches against Australia.

- NZPA