Cricket: Show us some R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

NZ's Stephen Fleming has the luxury of leading a full-strength Black Caps squad into the ICC Champions Trophy. Phil Walter / Getty Images

Stephen Fleming would like nothing better than to hold aloft his second Champions Trophy - if only to prove to the world that New Zealand should never be under-estimated.

New Zealand leave tomorrow for India and their fourth mini-World Cup campaign, having already tasted some success in Kenya in 2000, when they beat Sourav Ganguly's star-studded Indians in the final.

Fleming, who has just returned from a season with English county side Nottinghamshire, said he was still irritated by a lack of respect afforded to New Zealand on foreign shores, and believed winning was the only way to prompt a change.

"It only took six months in England for me to remember the lack of respect that people have for New Zealand cricket," he said this week. "I don't think folk acknowledge or appreciate how strong we can be.

"No matter what New Zealand achieve on the field, when it comes to the international scene we pretty much slip under the radar. Maybe it's because we've had a couple of quiet touring winters, I'm not sure."

New Zealand will take a rare, full-strength squad to India after the recovery of an alarmingly high number of injured players, including pacemen Shane Bond and spinner Daniel Vettori, the world's third and seventh ranked ODI bowlers, respectively.

Also cleared to play a full role are all-rounders Scott Styris and Jacob Oram, leaving Fleming feeling enthusiastic about his team's capability both in the field, and at the batting crease.

"We've got a bloody good side, and I'm not sure that's widely appreciated outside New Zealand," said Fleming.

"One of the problems we've had in the past is the amount of unavailable players, but this time we've got everyone on board and we're feeling pretty good about it."

New Zealand will begin the re-formatted tournament with a showdown against South Africa at Mumbai on Monday, after which they will square off against a qualifier (probably Sri Lanka) next Friday, and Pakistan on the following Wednesday at Chandigarh.

Realistically, they need to win two of their three games to qualify as one of the two top teams in each pool, and proceed to the semifinals.

All the games will be day-night affairs, which should at least minimise the influence of the heavy dew which occurs at the start of the day games scheduled in India at this time of year.

Fleming, who experienced the harsh morning dew first-hand during the TVS Cup tri-series in 2003, said he was relieved the games were all being played at night, although he believed the dew might still play a part.

"There'll still be a bit around in the evening but it's the better of two evils - the early morning starts made daytime ODIs too dependant on the toss."

New Zealand have a chequered history in the Champions Trophy.

They almost missed out at the qualifying stage of the inaugural tournament in Bangladesh back in 1998, scraping in against Zimbabwe only after a last-ditch rescue effort from Chris Harris.

Fleming's side then made off with the spoils in Kenya against all predictions, before being knocked out at the first-round stage in the subsequent events, in 2002 in Sri Lanka and in 2004 at England.

"This is something we'd dearly like to get our hands on again," said Fleming.

"We've had a taste of winning it, we know how much it means to win it -and we believe we're capable of doing it again."


ONE-DAY WONDERS

Previous Winners

South Africa 1998 in Bangladesh
New Zealand 2000 in Kenya
India/Sri Lanka* 2002 in Sri Lanka
West Indies 2004 in England
*trophy shared after the rain-hit final at Colombo


Tournament Records

* Highest total
347-4 in 50 overs, New Zealand v US, The Oval, 2004

* Lowest completed total
65 in 24 overs, US v Australia, Rose Bowl, 2004

* Highest winning margin (wickets)
Nine. South Africa v Bangladesh, Edgbaston, 2004; Australia v US, Rose Bowl, 2004; Pakistan v Netherlands, Colombo, 2002; Pakistan v Sri Lanka, Nairobi, 2000; Australia v Bangladesh, Colombo, 2002

* Highest winning margin (by runs)
210. New Zealand v US, The Oval, 2004

* Narrowest winning margin (by runs)
10. India v South Africa, Colombo, 2002

* Highest individual score
145 not out Nathan Astle, New Zealand v US, The Oval, 2004
145 Andy Flower, Zimbabwe v India, Colombo, 2002

* Most 100s
Three (in five matches), Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa); (in 13 matches), Saurav Ganguly (India)

* Most runs
665 (av. 73.89) in 13 matches, Saurav Ganguly

* Best bowling
5/11. Shahid Afridi, Pakistan v Kenya, Edgbaston, 2004

* Most wickets
19 (av.16.68) in seven matches, Mervyn Dillon (West Indies)