Wicketkeeper BJ Watling is battling what Black Caps coach Gary Stead described as "a slight hamstring niggle".
Watling picked up the injury during the opening round of the domestic one-day tournament and is in doubt for the first test against the West Indies, which starts in Hamilton tomorrow.
Stead said Tom Blundell would take the gloves and bat in the middle order if Watling was ruled out.
That would leave a vacancy at the top of the order, but that spot would go to Central Districts right-hander Will Young.
The 28-year-old has been the understudy for a few years and was poised to make his test debut in the third test against Bangladesh last year.
But the game was called off following the mass shootings in a terrorist attack in Christchurch.
The Black Caps have already had two injury withdrawals. All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme and left arm spinner Ajaz Patel were replaced in the squad by Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner.
Stead said the upside was there was plenty of depth.
"It is always healthy when you put your selector’s hat on and you have a lot of genuine competition for places," he said.
"Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Will has scored four or five [New Zealand A] centuries in the last couple of years. And Devon has done what he has done in domestic cricket and put a lot of runs on the board as well.
"It is healthy but it is not only the batting places, I think the bowling places as well with the emergence of a Kyle Jamieson and we’ve all seen Lockie’s [Ferguson] pace. And Matt Henry is on the sideline as well who, I guess sometimes, is a forgotten man.
"It is really healthy that we have that competition for places ... and if we do have injuries we have replacements that can step straight into the test side."
To complicate selection matters, Stead strongly hinted the Black Caps were unlikely to go into the match without a spinner in Hamilton, so Mitchell Santner appears poised to add to his 22 test caps.
How he fits into the mix will be interesting. He either plays as the all-rounder, or you leave out one of the seamers.
And who would that be? Trent Boult? Tim Southee? Neil Wagner? Jamieson? Who is at the bottom of that list?
Stead said Watling’s injury was still being assessed as he made his way over to talk with gathered media yesterday, and he was unsure what his prospects were of playing.
"I’m guessing [today] we will make that call of whether he is a chance of not."
