Cupboard bare as Kiwis ponder spin and pace options

New Zealand coach Gary Stead has conceded the delay in naming a replacement for injured fast bowler Lockie Ferguson is a by-product of having no obvious auxiliary pacemen waiting in the wings at home.

Ferguson will return to New Zealand on Tuesday to begin rehabilitation on his damaged right calf, a painfully unhappy legacy of his Test debut in the opening Domain Series match against Australia in Perth that ended with him wicketless and facing more than a month on the sidelines.

Stead spent this morning engaged in telephone conversations with cricket bosses in Auckland to work out who might replace the 25-year-old in the 15-man squad, which has 10 days to regroup for the Boxing Day Test after being thumped by 296 runs in Perth.

While fellow quick and squad incumbent Matt Henry is expected to fill Ferguson's place behind Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner in the Black Caps bowling outfit for the second Test in Melbourne, choosing an additional member of the touring party is proving more problematic.

That's partly because NZ does not have the depth of genuine fast bowlers with which Australia is currently blessed, but also a product of the domestic schedule across the Tasman where the men's first-class competition went into hiatus five weeks ago and won't resume until February 22.

Instead, the NZ schedule has seen the 50-over domestic competition dominate fixtures until today when the T20 Super Smash kicks off until January 19.

As a result, the Black Caps will likely look at uncapped seamer Kyle Jamieson (aged 24) or ODI and T20 representative Scott Kuggeleijn (27) as possible inclusions as auxiliary bowlers to remain on standby should another injury strike the visitors' attack.

Experienced seamer Doug Bracewell, who played against Australia in Tests during the Black Caps' 2011 and 2015 tours here, may also come into consideration along with allrounder Daryl Mitchell (son of former All Blacks rugby coach John Mitchell) who made his Test debut in NZ's recent home Test series against England.

However, Stead has indicated the selectors will look to make a like-for-like replacement for Ferguson even though bowlers who operate at the 145-plus km/h speed that the debutant showed before he was injured in Perth are difficult to find in NZ's domestic ranks.

"Unfortunately, I can't promise you I can pluck out guys that can bowl 150 (km/h) from New Zealand and bring them over here, because I'm not sure that we necessarily have them that are fit and available," Stead said in Perth today.

"So we'll consider everything we've got.

"We've got nine or ten days now to work out what our strategy will be and how we can put the Australians under more pressure."

The expected return of Boult at the MCG, who missed the first Test in Perth due to ongoing issues with the rib injury he sustained during the England series, will help ease some of the anxiety over the Black Caps lack of penetration with the ball.

Stead explained that while Boult was close to being passed fit for the series opener, the Black Caps long international summer – which includes five T20s, three ODIs and two Tests against India in NZ from January to March – was a decisive factor in ruling him out.

"Trent's going really well," Stead said of the left-arm swing bowler, who sits just behind Southee in fourth-place on NZ's all-time Test wicket-takers list.

"He was probably three, four or five days short of being ready for this Test match and it was a risk that we weren't prepared to take given the length of the season and what's still to come.

"We weighed up the short-term pain that we could face if he re-injured against the long-term gain of the whole season."

In the wake of the first Test result, which was the second-heaviest defeat (in runs) that NZ have suffered at the hands of their near neighbour in Tests, scrutiny has also come to bear on other places in the Black Caps line-up.

Opener Jeet Raval has endured a horror run since scoring a century against Bangladesh during the previous home summer, and has returned seven scores of five or less from his past nine Test innings.

Stead and his captain, Kane Williamson, expressed their support for the struggling left-hander - who former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting noted looked to be "out of his depth" at Test level - but also acknowledged that Raval was sorely in need of runs.

Another problem for the tourists is the lack of potency shown by left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who finished the Perth Test with match figures of 0-146 from 41 overs on a pitch where Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon grabbed 6-111 from 36.5 overs.

Santner's minimal impact was highlighted by Williamson's preference to use his most experienced fast bowlers Southee and Wagner during Australia's second innings, where the pace pair sent down more than 44 overs between them in baking heat while left-arm spinner Santner delivered just eight.

Stead conceded that his team was not able to call on a spinner with the experience or track record of Lyon who is Australia's third-highest Test wicket-taker of all time (with 376), but added that leg spinner Todd Astle (who has played four Tests) might come into consideration for the remaining matches in Melbourne and Sydney.

"It's an interesting one, because if I compare teams, Nathan Lyon has a record of taking over 300 Test wickets and we don't have anyone in New Zealand that's anywhere near that," Stead said.

"Mitch (Santner) has done a wonderful role for us in winning a number of Test matches, certainly in our conditions.

"Again, like all positions, we'll evaluate where we're at and work out whether we think it's the right option heading into Melbourne, but we've also got some cover in the squad with Todd Astle."

Domain Test Series v New Zealand

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

New Zealand: Todd Astle, Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson (c)

First Test: Australia won by 296 runs in Perth

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG (Seven, Fox & Kayo)

Third Test: January 3-7, SCG (Seven, Fox & Kayo)