Cricket: Black and Blue Caps send SOS

New Zealand were forced to pick a new cricket team last night after the previous one was left battered beyond recognition at the end of the third one-dayer against Australia.

Initially selected for both the third and fourth one-day internationals, the national side underwent two further changes yesterday as coach John Bracewell hunted for solutions for Michael Papps' head injury, Andre Adams' recurring illness and Daryl Tuffey's alarming lack of confidence.

The trio were all selected for the third and fourth one-dayers and all officially discarded ahead of time yesterday, replaced in a new squad of 12 by Otago opening batsman Craig Cumming and Central Districts paceman Lance Hamilton.

The changes followed last week's axing of Mathew Sinclair and Australia's overwhelming 87-run win in front of a packed Eden Park on Saturday night, when Tuffey choked in his opening over and Papps was hospitalised by a Brett Lee bouncer.

Papps was discharged from hospital on Saturday night with a nasty bump over his left temple, but Tuffey will take longer to get over the humiliation of conceding 15 runs before he bowled his second legal delivery.

In a performance that evoked various memories of Andrew Penn, Glenn Trimble and Mark Richardson, Tuffey's tragic 14-ball opening over included four no-balls and four wides, and lasted an agonising nine minutes.

The Northern Districts paceman was "released" from the side yesterday and it would be no surprise to find that he will spend his next few days recovering well away from the madding crowd.

A New Zealand Cricket advisory simply stated that a "support programme" would be put in place to help Tuffey find his way back to the international arena.

However, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming was less conciliatory on Saturday night, describing his opening bowler's effort as substandard and a complete aberration in terms of his track record.

"There was a lot of faith put in him for this game," Fleming said. "There were question marks over his form from the first two games, but that performance was certainly not up to international standard.

"You've got to be pretty disappointed when he's bowled so well for us in the past and then he puts in an effort like that."

Papps, felled by an Ian Butler bouncer a couple of summers ago and by Steve Harmison last winter, was cleared of any serious injury after a head scan on Saturday night, but NZC ruled him out of tomorrow's ODI as a precaution.

Apart from the state of his head, the other concern was his potentially dangerous pre-delivery foot movement, when he presses well forward, exposing himself to genuine pace.

New Zealand's coaching staff believe that, apart from anything else, the flaw indicates the vast gulf between international cricket and the New Zealand domestic game, where Papps can sit on the front foot "all day long" for Canterbury without discomfort.

Papps' withdrawal from the team opened the door for Cumming, who played 10 ODIs against Pakistan last season without much success, but has been in reasonable domestic form this summer.

Although his ODI average stands at a modest 15.33, Cumming has at least been exposed to the raw pace of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, and at 29 years of age should not be overawed by the assignment.

Left-armer Hamilton took 18 wickets at 17.55 in this year's State Shield while conceding an average of just 3.59 runs an over, and coach John Bracewell said he was confident the 31-year-old was up to the task.

"Lance Hamilton is just an out-and-out trier, a guy who's built his reputation on commitment and persistence, and has given his all on every occasion he's taken the park."

New Zealand

Stephen Fleming (c), Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns, Craig Cumming, Lance Hamilton, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Kyle Mills, Daniel Vettori, Jeff Wilson.