Kiwis Arrive Minus Five

IPL commitments mean the New Zealand squad have arrived without their captain or vice-captain

The Kiwis have arrived - or at least some of them. Five of their top players are otherwise engaged at the Indian Premier League, including the captain and vice-captain.

Those who turned up to Lord's yesterday were not as much a squad as a scouting mission. "It's not ideal but it's the nature of the landscape that we live in," said New Zealand's coach, John Bracewell. "It is a test of our maturity. Lots of things have the potential to cause friction in a side, but there is no reason why it should. It is incentive-based because the best players have had the invitations."

New Zealand's temporary captain, in the absence of Dan Vettori and Brendon McCullum, is Jamie How, who has only won nine Test caps. "I'm the first to admit that it's a holding role," he said. New Zealand begin a tour involving three Tests, five ODIs and one T20 with a one-day warm-up against the MCC at Arundel on Sunday.

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