Styris to miss first Test

CRICKET: New Zealand allrounder Scott Styris is likely to miss the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka next month because of a lingering back injury.

New Zealand team manager Lindsay Crocker said Styris was suffering from a small rupture to a disc in his spine and the priority was to ensure he was fit for the World Cup starting in March next year.

"It's not in anyone's best interests for Scott to play when he isn't 100 percent right, so it's unlikely he'll be considered," Crocker was quoted as saying by the Dominion Post newspaper in a report Tuesday.

"We just need to be patient and get him back to full fitness," he said.

Styris was forced out of the ICC Champions Trophy competition in India last month when the injury flared up again.

It first appeared in September while he was playing for English county side Middlesex.

Opening batsman Michael Papps will also not be considered for the first Test in Christchurch starting on December 7 due to a broken finger.

New Zealand will play two Tests against Sri Lanka, followed by two Twenty/20 matches and five one-day internationals.

WELLINGTON, Tuesday AFP