Vincent suffers rupture to airway but still expected to tour

Lou Vincent's chest injury is not expected to be bad enough to keep him out of New Zealand's tour to Sharjah and Pakistan starting at the weekend.

Vincent was hit in the chest by a ball from Andy Caddick during New Zealand's first innings of the third National Bank Test and did not take the field during England's first innings.

He batted at No 8 in New Zealand's second innings as a result of the time he spent off the field.

He was seen by Auckland respiratory surgeon today who said Vincent had bruising on his left lung and has suffered a rupture of his left airway.

He will see the surgeon again on Thursday for another look at the injury.

Vincent batted tonight with a runner and hit out hard in the New Zealand run harvest, scoring 10 off 14 balls under the artificially lit conditions. He had New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming as his runner, although there were times when Vincent forgot about that and was halfway down the wicket before remembering he didn't have to run.

He also played some hefty attacking strokes which suggested his batting was not suffering too much from the complaint.

Brooke Walker, who was recalled to the New Zealand team for the tour to Sharjah and Pakistan, took Vincent's place in the field and produced some outstanding diving saves in the manner for which Vincent has become so successful.

It is likely that Walker will field during England's second innings tomorrow.