McMillan snubbed again by NZ selectors

Craig McMillan

Craig McMillan's slide down the New Zealand cricketing ranks was further confirmed today when he was omitted from the 30-man Champions Trophy squad for fitness reasons.

New Zealand coach John Bracewell named 30 players for the October/November tournament in India, with the squad to be trimmed down to 14 on September 7 in accordance with International Cricket Council (ICC) rules.

McMillan, 29 and with 55 tests and 175 one-day internationals to his name, was the notable omission.

The former one-day international captain was left off New Zealand Cricket's (NZC) list of 20 contracted players in June but showed his run-scoring ability with a dour century for New Zealand A against India A in Darwin last month.

Bracewell said in a statement that the belligerent batsman needed to shape up if he wanted his international spot back.

"Craig McMillan was omitted from the 30 because of concerns about his fitness," Bracewell said.

"This does not mean Craig has been ruled out of contention for next year's World Cup but he will need to focus his efforts if he is to be selected for the Black Caps over the summer."

But the door wasn't closed an another one-day international veteran, Chris Harris, who was named in the squad despite not being awarded an NZC contract.

The 250-match allrounder "remains an option" for the selectors, Bracewell said.

The squad contained seven players yet to represent New Zealand -- Wellington seamer Mark Gillespie; Otago spinner Nathan McCullum -- brother of test wicketkeeper Brendon; Northern Districts gloveman Peter McGlashan; Otago seamer Warren McSkimming; Northern Districts allrounder Mark Orchard; Wellington batsman Jesse Ryder and Otago seamer Bradley Scott.

New Zealand's first match is against South Africa in Mumbai on October 16, with their other group matches against a qualifier in Mumbai on October 20 and against Pakistan in Mohali on October 25.

New Zealand squad: Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Stephen Fleming, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Chris Harris, Gareth Hopkins, Jamie How, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Chris Martin, Michael Mason, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan, Warren McSkimming, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Mark Orchard, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Bradley Scott, Mathew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Lou Vincent, Daniel Vettori.

- NZPA