Glenn Phillips has been summoned as last-minute batting cover after illness hit the New Zealand camp ahead of the final Test in Sydney, forcing Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls to sit out training for the second day running, ESPN reports.
Mitchell Santner, whose position in the side was under scrutiny after two poor outings, has also come down with the bug, leaving the possibility that New Zealand's resources will be stretched very thin as they aim to avoid a whitewash. Jeet Raval, who was dropped after the Perth Test, is currently the one spare batsman in the squad and the decision has been taken to fly in the uncapped Phillips on the eve of the game.
Phillips averages 42.54 from 23 first-class matches - with four hundreds - and struck a century for New Zealand A against England late last year.
Should Williamson be unavailable - and it would take a very severe illness to sideline him - Tom Latham would be the likely replacement as captain, although last year, when Williamson was ruled out of the Christchurch Test against Bangladesh that was subsequently cancelled following the terror attack , Tim Southee was in line to lead the side.
Latham took on the official duties at a reception with the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday and also did the pre-match press conference.
England's preparations for the first Test against South Africa last week were severely impacted by illness which swept through the majority of the squad in the first few weeks of the tour and continued to strike players while the Test was in progress.
It leaves New Zealand's planning up in the air although if everyone is available for selection there is the potential for two changes to the bowling attack with Matt Henry replacing the injured Trent Boult and Will Somerville coming in for Santner. While the surface is expected to turn, it is thought unlikely they will field two spinners, particularly after the workloads Southee and Neil Wagner have had during the first two Tests.
The series has been a chastening experience for New Zealand after they arrived with the hope of competing with Australia having risen to No. 2 in the Test rankings. They failed to cross 200 in the first three innings before Tom Blundell's defiant century in Melbourne, in his first Test as an opener, provided belated resistance.
Tim Paine was expecting Williamson to be standing with him for the toss and was focused on Australia not letting up in their intensity after a dominant Test season which has seen them win all four matches, including two against Pakistan, so far by huge margins. In the Ashes series last year, Australia produced a poor performance at The Oval after they had retained the urn with a match to spare but Paine was confident his team had learned from the experience.
