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LONDON - Daniel Vettori has declared himself fit to captain New Zealand against England in the first cricket test as he defies a cut to his spinning finger and an ongoing ankle injury.
Vettori wheeled down five overs in warm sunshine at the Lord's Nursery Ground today in his first bowl since having two stitches inserted in his left index finger after a fielding mishap against Essex nine days ago.
"It'll be fine," Vettori said, after coach John Bracewell also moved to alleviate any doubts over his captain.
"I'm completely confident he'll be ready to play as a bowler," Bracewell said.
"The stitches came out yesterday, they eased out straight away so there was nothing stuck there. He's quite confident all the swelling's gone down and it's a matter of holding together. "
The cut is in one of the worst possible spots for a spin bowler, just above the first knuckle.
Vettori bowled with a protective cover on the injury today, but under cricket's rules won't be permitted any tape or bandages on it for Thursday's series opener.
Bracewell also revealed Vettori had received a cortisone injection in his left ankle at the weekend which delayed his return to the bowling crease at training.
The troublesome ankle injury was suffered while playing soccer with his Northern Districts teammates in January.
Bracewell said Jeetan Patel was ready to step in for Vettori, should anything go wrong before Thursday.
It was a hardly ideal way for New Zealand to arrive at historic Lord's for their first training session, with a cloud over their captain.
But after he declared Vettori fit, Bracewell insisted his young side were in a buoyant mood and "flying under the radar" as they eye a three-test series in which they're being written off.
After beating Essex by 92 runs, New Zealand played out a draw against England A yesterday, closing at 201 for four after being set 368 to win.
"The bottom line is, England go into the match as favourites and we're quite happy with the position we're in. We've quietly been going about our business," Bracewell said.
"I'm delighted with the way the guys have gone about the last two games, shaken off the cobwebs and I think we're making good, quiet progress as New Zealand teams often do."
Debut opener Aaron Redmond has been the individual standout, with a career-best 146 and 64 against England A at Southampton taking his tour haul to 361 runs at 60.17.
Redmond was a largely unseen prospect for Bracewell pre-tour, who said selectors Glenn Turner, Sir Richard Hadlee and Dion Nash deserved the credit.
"I've been impressed with the selection, the way the selectors have monitored Aaron over the last year or so.
"The technique they said he has, which we believe would suit these conditions, and he's shown that. "
It means there is some relief around the main area of concern, the top-order batting, with Redmond's opening partner Jamie How hitting a timely 74 yesterday and likely test No 3 James Marshall notching 128 against Essex before two failures against England A.
The test team appears to be set in stone, with Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and another debutant Daniel Flynn making up the top six while Chris Martin and Kyle Mills spearhead the pace attack with backup from Tim Southee and Jacob Oram.
- NZPA
