A groin injury has ruled Black Caps all-rounder Ian Butler out of Otago's Plunket Shield match against Central Districts starting in Invercargill tomorrow.
The loss of Butler is tempered by the inclusion of international batsman Aaron Redmond, who will play his first first-class game for Otago this season Also returning to the Otago side is in-form batsman Neil Broom.
Broom was picked for the New Zealand test side to take on Bangladesh last week but had to carry the drinks as 12th man.
Butler injured his groin in late January in the final match of the twenty/20 campaign and Otago coach Mike Hesson said it had not improved.
The exact nature of the problem was unclear, so Butler would undergo a scan.
Until the results of the scan were known, it was unclear how long the all-rounder would be out of action.
Redmond returns to the first-class scene after a long absence because of injury and will be keen to make an impact, although it may be too late for him to force his way into the reckoning for the test series against Australia next month.
Broom has been in great form for Otago in the long version of the game and will want to continue that good run.
Otago sits third on the Plunket Shield table, on 18 points, and Central Districts is just two points behind.
Northern Districts (26 points) is on top of the table.
Otago Volts team
v CD in Invercargill, tomorrow
Craig Cumming (captain), Nick Beard, Derek de Boorder, Neil Broom, Anthony Bullick, Shaun Haig, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Aaron Redmond, Greg Todd, Neil Wagner, Sam Wells
