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Hamilton - New Zealand suffered a blow on the eve of the second Test against Pakistan on Thursday when bowling spearhead Trent Boult was ruled out with a knee injury.
Matt Henry was expected to be elevated to share the new ball
in Hamilton with Tim Southee, although New Zealand delayed naming their side
until Friday's toss.
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said Boult had been troubled
by "minor discomfort" in his left knee since the recent India tour
and irritated it further in the first Test against Pakistan which New Zealand
won by eight wickets.
"We were optimistic he would be ready for Hamilton, but
during training on Wednesday he felt further pain and has subsequently been
ruled out of the Test," Hesson said.
With the Seddon Park wicket expected to produce more swing
that Hagley Oval did for the first Test in Christchurch, Doug Bracewell has
been added to the New Zealand squad.
Pakistan, who have not lost a series to New Zealand for 31
years, have fond memories of their last appearance in Hamilton nearly six years
ago.
They beat New Zealand by 10 wickets and Asad Shafiq, who
scored 83 in his sole innings then, said they need to repeat that
"aggressive" approach.
"I remember that innings. I played good positive
cricket and it really feels good to come back to the same ground," he said
on Thursday.
"It seems a bit bowler-friendly wicket, some grass on
it, but ... we're used to playing on these wickets in our domestic cricket.
"It's a good challenge for us. We have to play positive
and we have to play aggressive on this wicket."
Senior New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, who had innings of
six and eight in the January 2011 encounter, confirmed he will undergo surgery next
Wednesday, immediately after the Test, to remove a growth in his left eye.
The 77-Test veteran, who was confirmed to play on Wednesday
after consulting an eye specialist, has been in poor form, amassing only 103
runs in his past 10 innings.
Taylor said although the growth did not affect his sight it
was distracting mentally "when you play and miss the first couple of
balls".
After consulting a range of optometrists and specialists, he
was confident an operation would clear up the issue.
"In any operation there's a chance things won't go as
well as possible but the surgeon I talked to last night was pretty
confident," he said.
Taylor revealed the growth had been present for more than five years but had worsened in the past year.
"In all the Tests I still had very good vision, It's just I guess the growth has come across," he said. "The only thing you can really do is wear sunglasses and put eye drops in."
