Cricket: Rules too American - Bracewell

Black Caps coach John Bracewell has been left underwhelmed by the ICC one-day rule changes implemented for the first time last week.

Under the new rules, teams name a substitute player that can be implemented at any stage for a player in the starting XI. Instead of 15 overs of fielding restrictions you now have 20, the first 10 overs and two blocks of five to be used at the captain's discretion.

"I'm not that fussed on it," Bracewell said, having watched the one-dayer between Australia and England on Thursday. "It's Americanising the sport. It's asking the decisions to be made off the field where I think the beauty of cricket is the majority of the decisons are still made by the captain on the park."

Bracewell said the rules regarding fielding restrictions - or 'powerplays' as they have become called - is too weighted in favour of the batting side.

He also said in countries like England and New Zealand, where overhead conditions are so important, captains will use powerplays in the first 20 overs the majority of the time.

After receiving a draft of the rules last week, Bracewell said there was debate as to whether you had to pick your XI and the substitute before the toss, or whether you named a 12 and picked the sub post-toss.

As it stands the replacement must be nominated pre-toss.

Bracewell believes it would be more even to nominate the 12th man after the toss as the side winning the coin-flip has too much of an advantage as it stands.

It now seems it would take exceptional circumstances for the side winning the toss not to bowl first. That gives them the option of substituting a batsman for a bowler once the bowler has completed 10 overs, effectively guaranteeing the side batting second an extra batsman in a run chase.

"That is something you've got to look at. The exceptional circumstances would be that you felt the wicket was going to die to such an extent that you need two spinners."

Bracewell was in Brisbane with a New Zealand XI last week, assessing the returns of Shane Bond and Jocob Oram. He is "delighted" by Bond's mechanics and says the process of getting Oram back to the bowling crease will be slow and steady.

He also worked intensively with Michael Papps on simplifying his movement across the crease, an area that blighted the Cantabrian's form last season.

Meanwhile, the MCC have confirmed that tonight's match between England and Australia at Lord's will definitely proceed. Security arrangements have been tightened following Thursday's terrorist attacks in London.

The teams' flags will fly at half-mast from the pavilion.