The side has not had one game for which it has been able to field a full-strength team this season, and the latest to go down is captain Hamish Rutherford. He is suffering from a sore back and was unable to play against Auckland on Wednesday.
Otago Volts coach Rob Walter said the back injury had been getting progressively worse over time and it had got too sore for Rutherford to play against Auckland.
The decision had been made to pull him out of the game and he was due to get a scan today which hopefully would show how serious the injury was for the left-hand opening batsman.
Walter said Rutherford was unlikely to play against Canterbury in a one-day game at the University Oval on Sunday, although backs can improve quickly.
Black Caps all-rounder Jimmy Neesham took over the captaincy reins on Wednesday and Walter said he did a good job.
"He made some good decisions as a captain and showed his experience," he said.
Otago lost the game to Auckland by 19 runs after being in a good position to win the match at Eden Park outer Oval. It needed 40 runs off the last eight overs but the unfortunate run out of wicketkeeper Derek de Boorder scuttled Otago’s hopes. Getting close but not getting across the winning line was becoming familiar for Otago.
"That is the story of our season so far. We get ourselves into a winning position and just do not get the job done. It was in our hands, but we kept losing wickets," he said.
Otago had bowled well, although letting Auckland get through to more than 250 was perhaps too many, as 220 would have been better, Walter said.
The side had an eventful trip home thanks to the wild weather hitting the country yesterday, with some tight aircraft landings.Otago’s opponent on Sunday, Canterbury, has also got some injury issues.
It will be without veteran all-rounder Andy Ellis, who has a fractured thumb, while seamer Kyle Jamieson has a side strain.
Canterbury also lost on Wednesday, falling to a heavy nine wicket defeat to Northern Districts in Hamilton.
