Mills: Key player
New Zealand say they will carefully manage the workload of seamer Kyle Mills against England.
Mills underlined his importance to the Kiwis with 10 wickets in two Tests against England over the winter, including a match-winning spell of four wickets in 25 balls to help his side win the opening Test.
England fought back to win the series with victory in the final Test at Napier, when both all-rounder Jacob Oram (hip) and Mills (knee) were missing because of their punishing workload in the opening two Tests.
It is a lesson New Zealand are determined to learn for the forthcoming series with 29-year-old Mills being rested for the four-day match against England Lions, the tourists' final match before next week's opening Test at Lord's.
Captain Daniel Vettori, who also sits out the game starting today at the Rose Bowl after sustaining a cut left index finger during the victory at Essex, admitted: "He's one of those guys who hasn't got much of a first-class background and hasn't played a huge amount of cricket.
"Sometimes we find he has a propensity to get injured because he hasn't got that cricket under his belt. We're looking at him for the three Tests and for him to be still firing at the start of July for our last one-dayer.
"We want to be able to manage him through that knowing what happened to him with the workload back in New Zealand, so it's more a precautionary thing rather than getting them all bowling. He got through 30 overs in the last game, he can work here and hopefully be raring to go for three Test matches."
Mills will come back into the team for the first Test at Lord's alongside 19-year-old Tim Southee, who claimed five wickets in the first innings of the third Test in Napier.
He then hammered an unbeaten 77 of just 40 balls to cement his place in the team to face England next week, providing he can overcome a back injury.
"His performance in that Napier Test match was outstanding so he's right at the forefront in our mind in terms of selection and also for a long period of time," said Vettori.
"He's got that natural talent, particularly with the ball, and we've got small resources and if Tim goes the way he did in his first Test match then he's got real potential.
"He's a pretty low-key guy, nothing much fazes him and he's got a really good understanding of his own game. When you see guys come into the team, particularly at 19, who know how to set their own fields and know what they want to do in any given situation then you feel pretty comfortable with them."

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| Fixture |
|---|
| Monday 9th November |
| One Day Int Third Match |
| Pakistan vs New Zealand |
| Women's T20 Int First Women's Twenty20 International |
| West Indies Women vs England Women |
| Tuesday 10th November |
| One Day Int Second Match |
| South Africa vs Zimbabwe |
| Tour Match One Day Match |
| South Africa A vs England |
| Women's T20 Int Second Women's Twenty20 International |
| West Indies Women vs England Women |
| Wednesday 11th November |
| One Day Int Seventh Match |
| India vs Australia |
| Thursday 12th November |
| Int Twenty20 First Match |
| Pakistan vs New Zealand |
| Women's T20 Int Third Women's Twenty20 International |
| West Indies Women vs England Women |
| Friday 13th November |
| Int Twenty20 Second Match |
| Pakistan vs New Zealand |
| International Twenty20 |
| South Africa vs England |
| Result |
|---|
| Sunday 8th November |
| One Day International Series |
| South Africa vs Zimbabwe South Africa won by 45 runs. |
| India vs Australia Australia won by 6 wickets. |
| Tour Match |
| vs England England won by 8 wickets. |
| Saturday 7th November |
| Women's One Day International Series |
| West Indies Women vs England Women West Indies Women won by 1 wickets. |
| Friday 6th November |
| One Day International Series |
| Pakistan vs New Zealand New Zealand won by 64 runs. |
| Tour Match |
| Diamond Eagles vs England XI England won by 185 runs. |
| Women's One Day International Series |
| West Indies Women vs England Women England Women won by 13 runs. |
| Thursday 5th November |
| One Day International Series |
| Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe Bangladesh won by 1 wickets. |
| India vs Australia Australia won by 3 runs. |
| Wednesday 4th November |
| Under 19 One Day International Series |
| Bangladesh Under 19 vs England Under 19 Bangladesh Under 19 won by 8 runs. |
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Skipper Andrew Strauss hit an unbeaten 117 as England cruised to an eight-wicket win over the Warriors in Kimberley.
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Australia cruised to a six-wicket win in the sixth One Day International to take an unassailable 4-2 lead in the seven-match series.
Tatenda Taibu's century failed to prevent Zimbabwe slipping to a 45-run defeat against South Africa in the first one-day international.
The one-day series between Pakistan and New Zealand is set for an exciting climax in Abu Dhabi on Monday.