Wellington, February 3:

New Zealand cricket suffered a twin blow on Sunday with injured captain Daniel Vettori ruled out of the Twenty20 series against England and Scott Styris retiring from Test cricket.

Vettori, who rolled an ankle during training last week, said the injury was improving but he would not participate in the Twenty20 games in Auckland on Tuesday and Christchurch on Thursday. He was also in doubt for the opening one-day international against England next Sunday.

Experienced batsman Scott Styris announced his retirement from Test matches, saying he wanted to focus on the limited over versions of the game with the 2011 World Cup as his end goal.

“The rigours of international cricket have become increasingly demanding and I would like to extend my career by focusing on shorter versions of the game,” Styris said. In his 29-Test career, Styris scored 1,586 runs at an average of 36.04 and also proved a handy medium pacer taking 20 wickets.