KEY POINTS:
There are few certainties at this 2007 World Cup, but one thing you can probably safely assume is that it will be the last for New Zealand's long-serving skipper, Stephen Fleming.
The man who took over the captaincy in 1997 led his team to the semifinals of the 1999 tournament in England and to a disappointing second-round elimination in South Africa four years ago, when a decision against travelling to Kenya cost the side dearly.
But at nearly 34 years of age, Fleming is in the late autumn of his career. Most of his contemporaries have already departed, and it's likely that the upcoming tournament will be his final World Cup hurrah, as it will be for a raft of fellow internationals.
This is expected to be the sunset on a golden era, when some of the great names of the past 15 years will perform their curtain call on cricket's biggest stage, before stepping quietly back into the shadows, or - more likely - the air-conditioned commentary booths.
It will be the end of the World Cup line for some of the game's greatest batsman: West Indian Brian Lara India's Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and Pakistan's Inzamam ul-Haq.
And that's not even mentioning top-flight Australian players Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, both of whom will this month be involved in their final World Cup campaign.
On the bowling front there will also be an exodus of players who comfortably fall into the elite category, headed by Australian paceman Glenn McGrath - already farewelled in Australia and New Zealand, and South African stalwart Shaun Pollock.
Fleming, the most capped ODI captain in the world and New Zealand's highest-scoring one-day batsman, had his first taste of the World Cup in the 1996 tournament, when Glenn Turner's side were knocked out of the quarter-finals by Australia.
It wasn't a memorable campaign for the then 22-year-old, whose best scores were 66 against the Netherlands and 42 against Pakistan at Lahore, and it was much the same in 1999 when he led New Zealand into the semifinals against Pakistan.
In fact, by the time he reached the crunch stage of New Zealand's 2003 campaign in South Africa, he could look back on a World Cup career that showed him not posting a meaningful score in any of his team's wins.
However, that particular record was well and truly smashed on February 16, 2003 at the Wanderers ground in Johannesburg, where locals were so frantic to support the host nation that the streets around Sandton and Illovo were gridlocked for most of the day.
They thought they'd been rewarded, too, when South Africa won the toss and Herschelle Gibbs proceeded to annihilate the New Zealand attack, smashing 143 off just 141 balls while leading his team through to 306 for six.
It came as something of a shock, then, when Fleming started playing the innings of his life at the start of the chase.
By the time Fleming had finished, or at least the Johannesburg weather had the last say, he'd struck an unbeaten 134 off 132 balls, including 21 fours, and New Zealand had grabbed one of their most famous World Cup wins, assisted by Messrs Duckworth and Lewis.
The innings propelled New Zealand into the second round, where their progress was eventually halted by India at Centurion, leaving Fleming frustrated at the turn of events and determined to make the most of his 2007 campaign.
He's already spoken of his support for the format of this competition, in which all teams play their fellow second-round qualifiers once, and he likes the fact that New Zealand will play a total of nine games before semifinal placings are determined.
What he'd like most, however, is the chance to lead New Zealand where no other New Zealand side has ventured before.
Now that would be a fitting World Cup ending to the most-capped one-day skipper in the history of the game.
BACK-TRACK
New Zealand's one-day record since the Champions Trophy in India last October-November.
Champions Trophy
v South Africa at Mumbai
New Zealand won by 87 runs
v Sri Lanka at Mumbai
Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
v Pakistan at Mohali
New Zealand won by 51 runs
v Australia at Mohali (semifinal)
Australia won by 34 runs
Sri Lanka Tour Of New Zealand (Dec-Jan)
v Sri Lanka at Napier
Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
v Sri Lanka at Queenstown
New Zealand won by 1 wicket
v Sri Lanka at Christchurch
New Zealand won by 4 wickets (D/L)
v Sri Lanka at Auckland
Sri Lanka won by 189 runs
v Sri Lanka at Hamilton
match abandoned
Commonwealth Bank Series V Australia And England (Jan-Feb)
v Australia at Hobart
Australia won by 105 runs
v England at Hobart
England won by 3 wickets
v Australia at Sydney
Australia won by 2 wickets
v England at Adelaide
New Zealand won by 90 runs
v Australia at Perth
Australia won by 8 runs
v England at Perth
New Zealand won by 58 runs
v Australia at Melbourne
Australia won by 5 wickets
v England at Brisbane
England won by 14 runs
Chappell-Hadlee Trophy (Feb)
v Australia at Wellington
New Zealand won by 10 wickets
v Australia at Auckland
New Zealand won by 5 wickets
v Australia at Hamilton
New Zealand won by 1 wicket
Overall: Played 19, won 9, lost 10
