McCullum worry for Black Caps

Explosive New Zealand batsman struggling to make crucial game



New Zealand are sweating on yet another injury as Brendon McCullum is a doubt for their must-win clash with Sri Lanka due to a broken finger.


A star batsman for the Black Caps, McCullum broke the little finger on his left hand and also suffered torn ligaments at the end of their defeat against Pakistan.

McCullum collided in the outfield with Neil Broom off the last ball of the match at the Oval two days ago, and he is now a big doubt for New Zealand's crucial match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately for us, Brendon McCullum has suffered a broken little finger and torn ligament," captain Daniel Vettori revealed."He's going to have an injection today, and we're going to see how he goes."

Shoulder problem

Vettori himself has been nursing a shoulder injury which kept him out of all New Zealand's matches until they took on Pakistan.

He should be fit again to face Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge, where the winners will almost certainly progress to a semi-final at their opponents' expense.Ross Taylor is not so certain to recover from his hamstring tear in time, however, and McCullum's setback is the latest in a catalogue of mishaps for the Kiwis.

"It's another injury that we desperately didn't need," Vettori confirmed."But we're still hoping he can play tomorrow, and we're hoping Ross Taylor willbe fit as well.

"If Ross is fit (and McCullum isn't) it would probably be a straight swap. If neither of them is fit we'll probably bring Neil Broom in and look to use Martin Guptill in the opening position."It's not ideal for us.

Our strength is in our top four, and potentially three of those top four may not play one of our most important games."