New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori confirmed on Wednesday he would play in the first Test against England at Lord's on Thursday after having two stitches removed from a split on his spinning finger.
- 'I still see Test cricket as the pinnacle'
Vettori injured the index finger of his left hand in a warmup match against Essex and did not play in the four-day match against the English Lions.
"I have gone through the last two trainings," Vettori told a news conference on Wednesday. "It's not perfect but it should be fine for the game.
"Batting won't be an issue at all. It's just in the worst possible place for a left-arm finger spinner but it's healed really well."
New Zealand named a 12-man squad on Wednesday with the final place to be decided between middle-order batsman Daniel Flynn and pace bowler Iain O'Brien.
New Zealand (from) - Jamie How, Aaron Redmond, James Marshall, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (capt), Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Iain O'Brien, Chris Martin.
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