New Zealand captain Vettori fit for first test v England

LONDON (Reuters) - New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori confirmed on Wednesday he would play in the first test against England at Lord's on Thursday after having two stitches removed from a split on his spinning finger.

Vettori injured the index finger of his left hand in a warmup match against Essex and did not play in the four-day match against the English Lions.

"I have gone through the last two trainings," Vettori told a news conference on Wednesday. "It's not perfect but it should be fine for the game.

"Batting won't be an issue at all. It's just in the worst possible place for a left-arm finger spinner but it's healed really well."

New Zealand named a 12-man squad on Wednesday with the final place to be decided between middle-order batsman Daniel Flynn and pace bowler Iain O'Brien.

New Zealand (from) - Jamie How, Aaron Redmond, James Marshall, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (capt), Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Iain O'Brien, Chris Martin.