Cricket: Vettori to captain against Australians

Daniel Vettori

Daniel Vettori will be named today as New Zealand captain for the first two one-day internationals against Australia.

The Herald understands that New Zealand Cricket is poised to release a statement confirming the unavailability of Stephen Fleming for the first and second ODIs, and the promotion of Vettori as the stand-in skipper.

NZC declared Fleming a doubtful starter on Wednesday because of a "medical matter" and requested media to respect his privacy, although no further information has been offered on his withdrawal.

Whatever the explanation, his unavailability will create an opening at the top of the order - probably for either Lou Vincent or James Marshall - and will catapult vice-captain Vettori into the biggest leadership challenge of his life.

Speaking from Lincoln yesterday, Vettori said he was excited about the prospect of measuring himself against the best, and getting a true picture of his captaincy abilities when under acute pressure.

But he said the strangeness of not having Fleming in the side was something he and his fellow squad members had to quickly absorb in the lead-up to the matches at Auckland on Saturday week, Wellington (December 7), and Christchurch (December 11).

"I'm getting my head around the whole situation," he said.

"I think the biggest thing is the suddenness of going from one of the boys to taking complete responsibility, and that's something that I - and probably lots of my teammates - have to get our heads around.

"We've had Fleming in the line-up for so long now and the thought of not having him for one of our biggest series is a big change, but one that I'm sure we'll all adapt to."

Fleming, who took over the captaincy from Lee Germon in 1997, has led the side in 184 ODIs and is New Zealand's most successful skipper in test and one-day cricket.

His reign has been interrupted only occasionally by injury or rest: Dion Nash deputised for seven matches against South Africa and India, Chris Cairns performed a caretaker role on seven occasions, Craig McMillan on six, and Vettori three.

Vettori said despite the news about Fleming, he was encouraged about the re-selection of Cairns and Jacob Oram, whose all-round skills lent great balance to the squad, opened up more tactical options, and would give him increased flexibility as captain.

"There was a lot of comment about whether Chris' omission was the right thing to do but he's answered all the questions asked of him and, from what I've heard, he's pretty excited about being back in the line-up.

"Chris could have thrown it all away. He's had a pretty amazing career but he's 35 and he could've said 'I've done my dash'. Or he could have taken the easy way out and snuck back against Sri Lanka or the West Indies.

"But he wants to test himself against the best, and that's great because it should mean we get the best from him."