Vettori to skipper Twenty20 team

Stephen Fleming remains firmly in New Zealand's one-day plans despite his absence from next month's Twenty20 world championship in South Africa.

Fleming's name was missing at the team announcement yesterday for two reasons, firstly to let new skipper Daniel Vettori "breathe" for himself, and secondly because Fleming's batting lends itself to finesse rather than raw power which the 20 overs-a-side slog demands.

A flu-ridden New Zealand coach John Bracewell said Fleming's future in the one-day game was not in jeopardy now that the 34-year-old has stood down as limited overs captain.

"Not as far as I'm concerned, but I'm one of four (selectors)," Bracewell said.

"As far as I'm concerned he is still one of our best one-day batsman given the way we play the game."

Bracewell said Fleming agreed to the plan which he first suggested to him during last year's World Cup in the West Indies. But the coach struggled to defend himself against the probability that by leaving such a quality player out he was undermining their chances of winning the inaugural tournament, which runs from September 11-24.

"We are keen to win, but I think it is going to be a bit of a power game in its initial crudeness and that is not Stephen's game. Also, mobility in the field is a factor," Bracewell said. "We also wanted to give the new captain a chance to breathe and have a go at leadership without having the old one standing over him."

Fleming is currently in England playing for Nottinghamshire, where he hit form overnight with 145 in a championship match against Somerset.

Vettori's appointment as captain was no surprise but for reasons known only to New Zealand Cricket officials they resisted going a step further by appointing him the one-day captain.

"We haven't named the one-day team yet," Bracewell said. "We've been grooming him for a while and Dan has not done anything to dissuade us from thinking that he is a very good captain."

Apart from Fleming's absence the other talking points were the omission of Wellington left-armer James Franklin, who has to address his propensity to fall away to the leg-side during his bowling release, and the inclusion of the Otago pair of offspinner Nathan McCullum and left-arm medium pacer Bradley Scott.

"I think we've all noticed that there are things in Franky's action that are not right, so we have decided this is the time to do it. It is tough on him because no one wants to miss out on cricket," Bracewell said.

McCullum joins his brother, Brendon, in the 15-man squad and if given the chance will bowl flat spinners and field like a demon.

Scott is probably too slow through the air to be risked but the blockhole at the death more than most.

Bracewell was open about his plans for the tournament, saying scores of 220 had to be aimed for and that Jacob Oram would bat at No 3 behind Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum.

New Zealand's pool matches are against Kenya on September 12 and Sri Lanka on the 15th.

THE SQUAD Daniel Vettori (captain), Shane Bond, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Gareth Hopkins, Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Bradley Scott, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Lou Vincent.