Butler replaces Bond for NatWest Series

New Zealand have called up Ian Butler to replace Shane Bond, who has gone home injured, for the one-day NatWest Series in England, which begins on June 24. Butler, 22, has played 10 one-day internationals, picking up seven wickets at a fairly high average of 53.85, with an economy rate of over five-and-a-half an over.

Butler had been playing for Kent on a short-term contract, standing in while Andrew Symonds was on international duty with Australia. This was his second appearance for an English county side, as he played for Gloucestershire as a short-term replacement for Ian Harvey last year.

Chris Harris, Hamish Marshall and Gareth Hopkins will also be joining the one-day squad, while Chris Martin and Mark Richardson are returning home. Harris will bring vast experience to the side, having played 240 one-dayers already, but Hopkins, who will provide wicketkeeping cover for Brendon McCullum when he flies home for the birth of his first child, has yet to make an international appearance.

Meanwhile, Stephen Fleming is considering missing the series in a bid to overcome a persistent hip injury. His absence would add to New Zealand's chronic injury crisis, with Bond, Michael Papps, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori already on the injured list.