The pending birth of pace bowler Tim Southee's first child has ruled him out of New Zealand's first cricket Test against the West Indies.
Coach Mike Hesson confirmed the decision on Wednesday, saying Southee will be sitting the match out to be with his wife Brya Fahy, who is due to give birth any day.
"He will be staying home and we're very supportive of that, obviously it is family first and that's the priority," he said.
A decision on his replacement - set to be either Matt Henry or the uncapped Lockie Ferguson - will be made on Thursday at training.
Henry has taken 22 wickets at an average of 48.5 while Ferguson is an exciting prospect with his pace.
Hesson said the decision would be tough as both players were performing well.
"It's nice to have a couple of very good options - obviously Henry did very well in the last Test match he played against South Africa and Lockie is probably bowling as well as he ever has.
"It just depends what we want to go with - whether we want to go with extra pace or whether we think it might nip around a bit and we want someone with Matt's control," Hesson said.
The first Test starts in Wellington on Friday.
