Injuries prove catching for replacement players

Andrew Penn must have had a nervous feeling when he heard news that another sportsman called in as a replacement failed to make the cut before his team left.

Penn, who injured his back in club cricket in Wellington on Saturday, has suffered the same fate after being called up to join the CLEAR Black Caps in South Africa, as prop Carl Hoeft suffered with the All Blacks on Sunday.

Hoeft was not wanted as part of the original squad either and was denied his big chance by a calf injury.

There is one significant difference between rugby and cricket stocks in New Zealand however. Rugby has far greater player resources.

As a result of failing a fitness test today, Penn had to withdraw from tomorrow's final fitness test before replacement players are sent to South Africa for the Test series.

His misfortune is Chris Martin's good luck.

Martin, who has yet to play Test cricket, has played 21 first-class matches and has taken 64 wickets at an average of 29.92.

"Chris is a bowler who has proved on both the NZ A tour of the UK and the BIL Academy tour of India that he bowls good lines and has the ability to find the edge of the bat. While he bowled well on both these tours, I felt he didn't get the figures he deserved. He's able to bowl long spells and keep the opposition batsmen on their toes," said the chairman of selectors, Sir Richard Hadlee.

"We're sorry that Andrew has been ruled unable to bowl for 3 to 4 weeks following an injury to his side in Wellington Club cricket at the weekend, but Chris is an ideal replacement who is keen to prove his worth," Hadlee said.

Martin, along with Matthew Sinclair, Mark Richardson, Hamish Marshall and Kerry Walmsley will leave for South Africa on Thursday to join the CLEAR Black Caps.