Cricket: World XI places for three Black Caps

Daniel Vettori hopes his selection in the Rest of the World team is just the tip of the iceberg for the New Zealand one-day side.

The in-form left-arm spinner was yesterday named, with New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming and premier all-rounder Chris Cairns, in a World XI for next week's charity game at Melbourne.

A glittering array of cricketing talent will square off against an as-yet unnamed Asian XI at the McG next Monday - and in February in either India or Sri Lanka - in a bid to raise funds for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

Besides the Kiwi trio, the World XI will include Australians Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hayden, West Indians Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, and Dwayne Bravo, and England's Darren Gough.

Vettori said it was an honour to be part of such an event, a privilege to be selected amongst such company, and he hoped it was just the start of things to come for the record-breaking New Zealand side.

In particular, he was anxious to see New Zealanders again gaining international recognition later this year, when the Rest of the World one-day side are named for the three-match Super Series in Melbourne.

"Whenever you get named in a team like this one, it's pretty exciting," he said yesterday from Timaru.

"I can't imagine any player not wanting to play a part in this, because the cause is so genuine.

"It's a chance to help people by playing cricket - it's a real honour."

He said the opportunities had arisen because of the New Zealand side's compelling form over the past calendar year and believed it was not fanciful to expect two or three New Zealanders to get the nod for the Super Series.

"It will be a very tough team to make but I think there's an opportunity for a couple of New Zealanders if we continue to perform," he said.

"If we're still No 2 you'd hope we'd be reasonably represented.

"I reckon Brendon McCullum would have a pretty good show of getting picked, and then there's Stephen Fleming in contention, and probably a few others, like Jacob Oram, with their hands up as well."

Vettori, the man-of-the-series against Australia last month, said he was not overly concerned about the abruptly altered schedule the New Zealand players now faced, despite the fact that the world champion Australians were due in February for a one-day and test series.

With Sri Lanka out of the equation, concern had been expressed that the international players would be underdone on the domestic circuit, and a poor match for the VB Series-toned Aussies.

"We actually get a good run of domestic one-day cricket, and then some four-day matches, so the workload should be pretty good for me," he said.

"It's a reasonable build-up for the Aussie series, given the circumstances."

Fleming said yesterday that he was excited about playing a role in the charity game and making a hands-on contribution to the fund-raising appeal.

"It's going to be quite an occasion, with some quality cricketers, and I think people will turn out and support it," he said.

"I consider myself very lucky to be involved, and, from an utterly selfish point of view, I'm really looking forward to playing alongside such a great bunch of players."

The disruption caused by the abandonment of the Sri Lankan tour was a fact of life, and something his team simply had to accept, and adjust to.

"We were all very disappointed about the series being called off but acutely aware of the bigger picture, and that's just life," Fleming said.

"We, of all the teams in the world, should understand the stress involved in a touring situation and I can tell you every one of us has been completely sympathetic to the Sri Lankans' plight."