Cricket: Big day for World Cup hopefuls

New Zealand bowler Matt Henry (R). Photo / Getty Images.

D-day has finally arrived for the highly-anticipated announcement of the 15 players to represent New Zealand at the Cricket World Cup.

The hotly-debated lineup for the February and March tournament will be revealed by Black Caps coach Mike Hesson late this afternoon.

Captain Brendon McCullum says some tough decisions have been made, but those who miss out will remain on standby.

"There's going to be some people that have been involved in this group for the last sort of while who may not get an opportunity in the World Cup, but we know that things can happen over the next couple of weeks and they might find themselves a part of the World Cup when it does arrive."

Veteran spinner Daniel Vettori is being tipped to play just a back up role for New Zealand at the tournament.

Former New Zealand coach and national selector Glenn Turner expects Vettori to be included, but not necessarily as the main spinner.

"It makes sense for him to be in there but having said that, I would still play Nathan McCullum ahead of him and I would see him as back up unless they got under conditions where you might go in with two spinners."

Glenn Turner expects in-form Test seamer Trent Boult to be included at the expense of Matt Henry, and all-rounders Jimmy Neesham and Corey Anderson to also get the nod.

The 15-man squad will start preparations for the seven-match ODI series against Sri Lanka which starts in Christchurch on Sunday.