New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has had a "potentially cancerous" tumour removed from his face and will miss the first two one-day internationals against Australia next month, New Zealand Cricket said on Friday.
Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori will lead the side in Fleming's absence in Auckland on December 3 and Wellington on December 7. The final match for the Chappell-Hadlee trophy is in Christchurch three days later.
"Stephen last week had a potentially cancerous tumour removed from his jaw-line in front of his left ear, and on Thursday received the very good news that the tumour was benign," team manager Lindsay Crocker said in a statement.
"The size of the tumour caused nerve damage which was repaired with further surgery on Wednesday."
Crocker said they expected Fleming to be fit enough to play a domestic one-day match on December 5 and would then be considered for the final game.
"When he was selected we did not know whether he would be available for the first match or whether he would be out for a longer period.
"We are very pleased for Stephen who must have had a stressful time over the past week.
Batsman Nathan Astle has been named as vice-captain.
A 14-man squad had been named on Wednesday in case Fleming was unavailable for the first match.