Cricket: Black Caps need to sharpen up for tri-series

By MARK GEENTY

New Zealand's fielding will be the difference if they are to live up to their world one-day cricket ranking of No 4 and win the tri-series, captain Stephen Fleming says.

Fleming said fielding would be the catalyst to see them to the final at Lord's on July 10 as they eye their opening day-night match against an injury-hit England here early on Friday (NZT).

There was a notable lack of edge in the team's three warmup matches against county sides in the past week, with dropped catches and overthrows, and Fleming said lifting the standards was priority No 1.

"It's got to be an area of strength. We haven't been as good as we want to be so far, so we're working very hard on that," Fleming said at the NatWest Series launch at Old Trafford today, which was notable for the absence of West Indies captain Brian Lara who missed his plane from London.

"Our practices have been very fielding-focused, and we've got to be up to speed because we can't afford to be dropping catches or being untidy.

"Part of the work ethic of this side comes from our fielding. When we're not fielding well, it permeates through the rest of the game."

Coach John Bracewell sparked an immediate lift in fielding standards when he took over for the home series against Pakistan, making them more aggressive and encouraging wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum to stand up to the stumps and apply pressure to the batsmen.

It helped them win nine of 11 matches against Pakistan and South Africa and rise to fourth on the world rankings, with hosts England currently ranked seventh and West Indies eighth.

"The lines we run in the field, what we try and achieve in the field is all crucial.

"They're based on pretty strong principles that require high energy, and it keeps a pretty strong focus on me. What we're trying to achieve is cutting down up to a dozen runs, and cut down the extras."

Not surprisingly, Fleming rated his side as a superior one-day unit than that which were outplayed 0-3 in the test series.

"On our form over here in the tests, the favourites tag is probably undeserving, but I think our record over the last dozen games, our one-day game is in much better shape.

"With injuries and players missing, you can make up for that in the one-day game whereas you're more exposed in the longer version."

In a welcome change for Fleming today, he fielded questions about another team's injury woes rather than his own.

New Zealand have been handed a huge chance of stealing a win in the first match with England's kingpins Andrew Flintoff and Marcus Trescothick both in doubt.

Flintoff, their leading one-day bowler, is ever unlikely to play with a foot injury while Trescothick, their best-performed batsman, rolled his ankle at the weekend but was in slightly better shape.

"We know what they'll be going through, but part of the strength of a squad is to be able to adapt. We came up a bit short, and England will be hoping they can cover whatever problems they have," Fleming said.

New Zealand's only injury worry was spinner Daniel Vettori but he was playing for the MCC against King's School at nearby Macclesfield today in a late big to prove his fitness after a hamstring injury.

Vettori and Chris Harris would be competing for the final spot in the playing 11, with Michael Papps, Ian Butler and Gareth Hopkins the other three likely to miss out.

- NZPA