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	Stephen Fleming will leave the game as New Zealand’s leading Test run-scorer, most capped player, and most prolific captain © Getty Images

Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s most-capped player, has announced he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the upcoming home series against England. Fleming said it was better for his family if he quit the game ahead of the return tour of England in May and June.”I always indicated that I was likely to retire from international cricket at some point in the near future and the time is right for me and my family to do that now,” Fleming said. “Retiring before the tour to England will allow me to be with [my wife] Kelly for the birth of our second child.”Fleming, 34, will take part in the Indian Premier League, however, and said it was a good way to stay involved in the sport. “It is an exciting opportunity and one that I will be pursuing with the full support of New Zealand Cricket,” he said. “The IPL only takes a short amount of my time each year, and allows me to continue pursuing my new endeavours outside of the game.”One of those aims is to start his own marketing, media and sports management business but NZC’s chief executive Justin Vaughan hopes Fleming will play a part in the country’s cricketing future. “Stephen’s presence and leadership qualities had a tremendous impact on the team and he will be missed by New Zealand Cricket and the Black Caps,” Vaughan said.”He has made a huge contribution to cricket in New Zealand and I sincerely wish him all the best. I’m sure we have not seen the last of him and we are working to ensure that he has a role within cricket in New Zealand in the future.”Fleming departs with a sackful of New Zealand Test records. No New Zealander has played as many Tests (108), scored as many runs (6875), taken as many catches (166), captained as many games (80), or led as many wins (28) as Fleming.Appointed at 23, he was the country’s youngest Test skipper and only Allan Border, who led Australia through 93 Tests, guided his team in more games. When Fleming retired from one-day international cricket last September he left with a similar bunch of records. At the same time as Fleming quit ODIs New Zealand handed the Test captaincy to Daniel Vettori, which disappointed Fleming, who wanted to see if separate captains could help New Zealand’s consistency.”I felt in New Zealand cricket whenever our one-day cricket was going well our Test cricket suffered and vice-versa,” he said. “One of the ways to combat that was to step aside as one-day captain. I would have liked the opportunity to be working away at our Test game, to be exploring how we could beat England in the Tests.”After the powers that be decided against splitting the captaincy, Fleming admitted he had contemplated his future and seriously considered a substantial offer from the Indian Cricket League. It became clear his time at the top level was drawing to a close.The only question was when in 2008 he would end his career. Would it be before the home series against England, after it, or following the return tour of England in New Zealand’s winter? Fleming, a man who avoids fanfare where possible, has opted for three final Tests at home with his last set to start in Napier on March 22.That will give local fans an opportunity to farewell a man who has defined New Zealand cricket for more than a decade. When he made his Test debut in 1993-94 it was immediately apparent the selectors had found an important player for the future success of the side. In a team led by Ken Rutherford against India in Hamilton, Fleming made 92 in his opening Test, and he followed it just days later with 90 in his ODI debut in Napier.

	Stephen Fleming will continue to be involved in the game and will play in the Indian Premier League © Getty Images

But triple-figures never quite agreed with Fleming, who ended up with nine centuries and 43 half-centuries in accumulating a Test average of 39.73. It took him 23 Tests to make his first hundred and a month later he was thrust into the captaincy when Lee Germon was unavailable for against England due to a groin injury. Germon did not return and Fleming began a ten-year reign during which he eventually became regarded as arguably the most astute leader in the game.Through it all runs kept coming for Fleming, though not in the proportions he or his country would have liked. He was sometimes accused of lacking concentration as he tried to build big scores and that trend looked set to continue in Colombo in 1998 when he absent-mindedly strolled to the crease without his box and had to rush back to retrieve it.A lazy shot brought his dismissal for 78, but in his second innings he displayed a rarely-seen resolve, batting for nearly eight hours to finish unbeaten on 174 and setting up a 167-run victory. It was his second Test century and New Zealand hoped it would be his turning point. He didn’t reach triple-figures again in a Test for nearly four years.A highlight eventually came in the same city five years later when he batted for nearly 11 hours to register an unbeaten 274 – it remains his highest score – and then made an unselfish declaration that left the door open for a result. He finished the match having been on the field in searing heat for all but the first 44 minutes of the draw and any suggestions that he lacked application were finally put to rest.As if to prove that his double-century was no fluke, he rattled off several more mammoth efforts in Tests: 192 against Pakistan, 202 in Bangladesh and 262 against South Africa. There were outstanding one-day innings along the way as well, and an unbeaten 134 against South Africa in a must-win World Cup match in 2003 was particularly important.But more than individual performances, Fleming was proud of the times he led his small country to big successes. Guiding them to a 2-1 Test win in England in 1999 was particularly special, although Fleming was also pleased with the 0-0 drawn series in Australia in 2001-02. Another highlight came in 2000 when he led New Zealand to their first triumph in a major tournament – the Champions Trophy in Nairobi.The one-day arena was also where Fleming experienced some of his biggest disappointments, and failing to get his team into a World Cup final was a regret. Following last year’s semi-final knockout at the hands of Sri Lanka, Fleming quit the ODI captaincy, which precipitated a chain of events that gradually led to his removal from the Test leadership. Fittingly, though, he has been afforded the right to end his playing career on his own terms.

Steve Harmison: ‘I won’t let the criticism get to me’ © Getty Images

The last time England played in the Caribbean a tall paceman from Durham grabbed all the headlines but, as the team prepares to head out to West Indies for the World Cup, Steve Harmison won’t even be on the plane.After the 5-0 Ashes whitewash Harmison announced his retirement from one-day cricket, saying he hoped it would extend his time at Test level. His last ODIs where in the Champions Trophy, when two wayward performances continued a poor run with the white ball, which Harmison struggled to control. In 2006 he took 14 wickets at 30, but that doesn’t tell the whole story as he went for almost six-an-over, include a 0 for 97 hammering by Sri Lanka at Headingley.His efforts in the Ashes will be remembered for one ball, his opening delivery of the series which went straight to Andrew Flintoff at second slip. After his one-day retirement questions were again asked about his commitment and passion, but Harmison is shrugging all that off.”I don’t think I’ve got to prove anything to anyone, my record speaks for itself,” he told , although others will beg to differ after a career that hasn’t lived up that 2004 West Indies tour.”What I want to do is enjoy my cricket again because I didn’t enjoy what happened this winter. The reasons for that are pretty obvious, but it’s behind me and I’m only looking forward. I won’t let the criticism get to me, I’ve got big enough shoulders to deal with that. If people think otherwise, they don’t know me.”All I’ll say is, I’ve learnt a lot about who my friends are and who was pretending to be my friend. That’s all I’ll say about it, but I know what I want out of life and I know I’m still a good fast bowler.”Harmison will have a handful of early-season Championship and domestic one-dayers to prove his worth to the selectors before the opening Test against West Indies, which starts on May 17 at Lord’s.

Daniel Vettori: on the up © Getty Images

Daniel Vettori was named The National Bank Player of the Year for the second consecutive time at the New Zealand Cricket Awards Dinner in Auckland on Thusday.”Daniel is a deserving winner having consistently delivered outstanding performances in both forms of the game throughout the 12-month period under review,” said Martin Snedden, NZC’s chief executive. “Daniel has been a dominant force in all facets of the game. He scored New Zealand’s fastest-ever Test century against Zimbabwe, and claimed 19 first-class wickets at an average of 17.47. His Test batting average was 51.2. In ODIs he maintained an ODI economy rate of 3.87 and took 23 wickets at an average of 30.17.”He also captained in this season’s Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series and was the only New Zealand player selected for the World XI which played Australia in last year’s inaugural Super Series. He also fitted in four State Shield wickets and four innings as an opener, averaging 53.25.”The other awards were:Redpath Cup
Awarded to the batsman whose performances in men’s First-Class cricket have been the most meritorious: Mathew Sinclair who scored 848 runs at an average 53 with four centuries and four half-centuriesWinsor Cup
Awarded to the bowler whose performances in men’s First-Class cricket have been the most meritorious: Chris Martin who took 50 wickets at an average of 23.98Walter Hadlee Trophy
Awarded for the most meritorious batting by a New Zealand player in one-day internationals: Nathan Astle who averaged 45 including two centuries and four half centuries.Walter Hadlee Trophy
Awarded for the most meritorious bowling by a New Zealand player in One-Day internationals: Shane Bond who took 36 wickets at an average of 18.11.State Medal
Awarded to the most outstanding player in men’s domestic cricket: Jonathan Trott, who scored 275 runs and took eight wickets in the State Championship for Otago, and made 455 runs and took 14 wickets in the State Shield.State Plate
Awarded to the most outstanding player in women’s domestic cricket: Aimee Mason, who took 16 wickets and scored 280 runs as she captained State Central Hinds to the State League title and played for the White Ferns in their series win over India.The Phyl Blackler Cup
Awarded to the bowler whose performances in women’s cricket have been the most meritorious: Louise Milliken, who took six wickets in the White Ferns’ series win over India and took 16 wickets for the Northern Spirit in State League play.The Ruth Martin Cup
Awarded to the batsman whose performances in women’s cricket have been the most meritorious: Emily Drumm, who made her 100th One-Day international appearance for the White Ferns this year, taking eight wickets and scoring 274 runs in the series against India, with a high score of 94*. She also scored 478 runs at an average of 53.11 for the State Northern Spirit in the State League.Sutcliffe Medal
For outstanding services to cricket: Peter Sharp“Peter Sharp is a deserving recipient of the Sutcliffe Medal, having made an extremely valuable lifetime contribution to cricket in New Zealand,” Snedden told the audience. “Peter represented Canterbury eight times during the mid 1960s before moving into the media where, for the past 40 years, he has been broadcasting cricket on radio and, at times, on television. He has held a number of important voluntary positions within cricket where he has made a valuable contribution to the game regionally and nationally.”Peter became a Level 3 coach in 1984 and has maintained a close involvement in cricket coaching since then, including spending three years as a Kiwi Cricket co-ordinator.As well as his involvement in cricket, Peter has served as a trustee of the Murray Halberg Trust and on the Assembly of Sport, The Hillary Commission, and the New Zealand Secondary Schools Sports Council.”

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been named captain of a side that includes Brian Lara© Getty Images

The sponsorship imbroglio that threatened to rip West Indian cricket apart isseemingly over, but it has cost Brian Lara his captaincy, at least for themoment. Lara is among the four players involved in the sponsorship controversy to have been named for the second Test against South Africa starting April 8, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been retained as captain for the entire series.Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo are the other players who are back in the fold, at the expense of Daren Ganga, Donovan Pagon and Narsingh Deonarine who were part of playing XI for the first Test.Michael Carew, the convener of selectors, said he and his panel were pleasedwith the team’s overall performance in the first Test and he expected that the “team will go from strength to strength as the series progresses.”Coach Bennett King must be one of the happiest men in the Caribbean present,” Carew said, “given the talent that has been on display. He must also be quite optimistic with the cricket World Cup in mind and even beyond that.”Lara, who has captained West Indies in 40 out of his 112 Tests, had earlier declined an invitation to be part of first Test on the grounds that he wanted the selectors to pick the best possible West Indies team. Lara and six others were contracted to Cable & Wireless, business rivals to Digicel, the official sponsors of the West Indian cricket team. The matter was finally resolved with Cable & Wireless releasing Sarwan, Gayle, Bravo and Fidel Edwards.West Indies squad Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (capt), Ryan Hinds, Courtney Browne (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Daren Powell, Pedro Collins, Reon King, Dwight Washington.

Elite Championship Sixth RoundPunjab 209 (Sahabuddin 5-52) beat Andhra 30 and 84 (Gagandeep 5-32, Sharma 4-32) by and innings and 95 runs
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After being run over for 30 yesterday, Andhra put in another ignominious batting display as Punjab wrapped up the match (with a bonus point) at Mohali with two days to spare. Punjab’s batting was characterised by some quick cameos by Yuvraj Singh (38), Dinesh Mongia (38) and Pankaj Dharmani (39), which gave them a lead of 179. Syeb Sahabuddin was the pick of the Andhra bowlers with 5 for 52. That lead proved to be more than enough, as Andhra crumbled for only 84 in their second innings with none of the batsmen passing 25. The bowling heroes for Punjab were Gagandeep Singh and Vineet Sharma, as they were in the first innings, taking nine wickets between them.Railways 103 for 3 trail Mumbai 388 (Powar 131, Muzumdar 95) by 285 runsScorecard
Amol Muzumdar fell five short of a hundred, but Ramesh Powar cracked an entertaining 131 to give Mumbai the advantage at the Wankhede Stadium. Resuming at 236 for 5, Muzumdar added only four runs before he was snapped up by Zakir Hussain. Three quick wickets followed before Powar was joined by Munaf Patel, the last man, with the score on 312. The next half-hour saw a flurry of boundaries – including some massive sixes – and 76 valuable runs were realised, of which Munaf blitzed 32 in just 24 balls. Munaf carried on the good work with an accurate first spell, and was rewarded when Amit Pagnis fished at one away from the body. After the loss of two more wickets, Sanjay Bangar and Shreyas Khandolkar steadied the innings with a vital 65-run unbeaten stand.Kerala 286 for 5 (Kudva 90*) v Delhi
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Kerala trudged along on the second day at the Harbax Singh Stadium Delhi, on the back of a steady 90 from Ajay Kudva. Only 201 runs were added in the day, with Hemanth Kumar and Sreekumar Nair chipping in with 46 and 34 respectively. Kudva’s dogged effort took up 193 balls and contained 11 fours.Tamil Nadu 87 for 3 trail Hyderabad 447 (Vinay 93, Khaleel 75, Vishnuvardhan 59) by 360 runs
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Tamil Nadu suffered three early setbacks in pursuit of 447 in Hyderabad. After a solid batting display by the Hyderabad top order yesterday, the tail picked up the baton, with Ibrahim Khaleel and Sankinani Vishnuvardhan notching up half-centuries. Narendra Pal Singh and Venkatapathy Raju finished with the innings with a flourish, as they put on 47 runs in quick time. For TN, Jayaraman Gokulakrishnan and Tamil Kumaran picked up three wickets apiece. Vishnuvardhan then snapped up both the TN openers, but Sridharan Sriram stroked 48 and held things together.Karnataka 280 for 6 (Rowland 122*) lead Gujarat 210 by 70 runs
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Barrington Rowland carved out a fine century as Karnataka gained the upper hand, along with a 70-run lead, at Ahmedabad. Siddharth Trivedi (4 for 71) threatened to derail the innings, but Rowland got good support from Deepak Chougule (37) and Stuart Binny (41) and resurrected the innings. Rowland hit seven fours in his 320-ball effort.Baroda 34 for 1 trail Uttar Pradesh 473 (Samshad 168) by 439 runs
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Rizwan Shamshad slammed 168 and helped UP pile on the misery on Baroda at Vadodara. Shamshad – 34 overnight – spent nearly eight hours at the crease, and hit 18 fours. Gyanendra Pandey chipped in with 44 and Pravin Gupta put on 78 vital runs with Shamshad. Rakesh Patel and Shekhar Joshi, the two medium-pacers, picked up three wickets each.Plate Championship Fourth RoundTripura 3 for 1 trail Madhya Pradesh 454 (Abbas Ali 109, Patwardhan 106) by 451 runs
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MP posted a massive total at Indore as Syed Abbas Ali and Nikhil Patwardhan crafted fine hundreds. Patwardhan got useful support from the tail, and 204 was added after Ali fell. Arindam Sarkar, the medium-pacer, was the most successful bowler for Tripura, and finished with 4 for 72.Jammu & Kashmir 104 (Sandeep 5-56) and 36 for 4 trail Vidharbha 379 (Fazal 151) by 239 runs
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Resuming at 300 for 4, Vidharbha lost their way this morning at Nagpur, as only 79 more were made for the loss of six wickets. Even that would not have been possible, if not for Chandrashekhar Atram’s breezy 37. But they ensured that it was more than enough, when J&K were skittled out for 104. Sandeep Singh scythed through the top order and finished with a five-wicket haul. And it got even worse when J&K were reduced to 36 for 4 as they followed on, which left them 239 runs in arrears.Himachal Pradesh 111 and 15 for 0 trail Goa 312 (D’Sousa 74, Jakati 66) by 186 runs
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After shooting down HP for only 111, Goa gained a sizeable first-innings lead at Dharamshala. Robin D’Sousa and Shadab Jakati compiled half-centuries and Goa gained a lead of 211. D’Sousa hit eight fours but Jakati was more aggressive as he hit 10 fours in his 148-ball effort.Services 89 for 2 trail Maharashtra 403 (Khirid 117, Kanitkar 112, Fazil 5-104) by 314 runs
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Maharashtra have had a great time with the bat this season, and it was no different against Services at Aurangabad. After a century from Hrishikesh Kanitkar yesterday, Ranjit Khirid smashed 117 and nudged them past the 400 mark. For Services, Fazil Mohammad finished with five victims. Services replied by crawling to 89 for 2 in 34 overs, with Yashpal Singh unbeaten on 42.Orissa 41 for 1 trail Saurashtra 228 (Vaghela 95) by 187 runs
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Despite Kanaia Waghela’s sedate 95, Saurashtra were restricted to 228 at Cuttack. Waghela hit 10 fours in his 339-ball knock. Yet none of the other batsmen passed 30, as Debashish Mohanty and Deepak Mangaraj grabbed seven wickets between them. Orissa lost the wicket of SS Das before stumps were drawn.

St Cross Symondians have lost their unbeaten record but are still top of the NatWest Bank Under-16 Indoor Cricket League at the Hampshire Rose Bowl.They never recovered from a disastrous start and were well beaten by five wickets by Andover, who lie second in the table, 12 points behind.A hat-trick of run outs involving Hampshire Under-16 all-rounder Steve Williams put St Cross under pressure from the start and only Robert Miller (23) put up much of a fight as St Cross slumped to 103 all out.Williams (25), Robert Palmer (27) and James Manning (21) swept Andover to an easy 11-point win.But St Cross regained their impetus to successfully chase Mudeford’s formidable 149-5 and win by four wickets.Mike Chant (69 not out) and Scott Assinder (52) made the highest individual scores so far, but St Cross never looked back after a flying start by Miller (28) and James Burridge (27).James Irvine-Fortescue hit an unbeaten 40 to get St Cross home off the penultimate ball.Andover piled up the highest total to date when they reached 171-1 against Mudeford, with Williams (28), Palmer (27), Manning (26), Cellie van der Merwe (25) amnd Mark Copplestone (25) all retiring.Mudeford, totally bemused, managed 79-4, with only Steve Jacobs (29) and Chant (24) undefeated.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has today been having urgentdiscussions with Warwickshire County Cricket Club, other ground authorities,the ICC Match Referee Brian Hastings, and representatives of the respectiveteam managements, following the crowd incursions at Edgbaston towards theend of the England versus Pakistan NatWest One-Day International (ODI)match.Tim Lamb, Chief Executive of the ECB, said: “The crowd incursions on to the playing area last night were totally unacceptable and we are doing everything we can to ensure that there is no repetition during any of the other matches in the NatWest Series.”Our first priority is to protect the safety of the players, umpires and spectators, and we have therefore decided to act swiftly and implement a number of immediate remedial measures.”We reject the suggestion made by the Australian captain that the ECB does not regard the matter of crowd invasions as a safety issue.”The authorities at Edgbaston, who are ultimately responsible for safety matters at the ground, took the decision to double the number of police present last night and very considerable thought was given by Warwickshire to all aspects of the preparation for last night’s match.”The ECB is in close contact with other ground authorities at the venues for the remaining NatWest ODI matches.”The measures the ECB will be taking at the remaining ODI matches are:Stewarding – Ground authorities have already taken steps to increase levels ofstewarding at strategic points around the ground.Player Safety – Additional security and crowd control measures will be provided in the area around the players’ dressing rooms and in the pavilion area, whereplayers enter and leave the pitch.Suspending Play – Should spectators start to mass on the wrong side of the boundary boards and/or encroach on to the playing area whilst the match is still in progress (as happened last night), then the umpires will be given theauthority to suspend play immediately until the playing area is cleared ofall spectators.Appointment of an Urdu-speaking public address announcer – At matches involving Pakistan, an Urdu-speaking announcer will be appointed to make appropriate announcements, as necessary, in the Urdu language for the benefit of Pakistan supporters.Prosecution – Members of the general public who steal the stumps/bails and/or who cause wilful damage to the pitch will risk being prosecuted – at theinsistence of the ECB – by the police.

Champions League chasers West Ham United could move as high as fifth place in the Premier League with a win against Everton today.

The Hammers’ form has been rocky of late, though, with just two wins in their last six games in all competitions bound to be a concern for David Moyes.

The 58-year-old’s side will need to show ruthlessness against his former employers, with the Toffees’ precarious position in the table bound to give the home team a boost of adrenaline.

On the chalkboard

As Moyes sets his team up for the all-important clash against Everton, we hope he is considering on-loan Paris Saint-Germain and former Real Madrid goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. The £138k-p/w Frenchman, who is blessed with “incredible reactions”, has performed superbly in West Ham’s cup commitments this season.

Areola has endured a somewhat bit-part career but, at 29 years of age and with 280 club appearances to his name, has all the experience and attributes needed to replace the ageing 36-year-old Lukasz Fabianski to become the Irons’ number one.

Although his appearances have been limited at the London Stadium, the Frenchman has demonstrated his ability as a natural shot stopper, with his PSx-GA total (post shot expected goals minus goals allowed) placing him within the 92nd percentile among ‘keepers in Europe’s top five leagues, as per FBRef.

When he has been afforded consistent minutes, the on-loan ‘keeper has made the Europa League his own, conjuring an outstanding 82.6% save percentage which has seen him keep four clean sheets in seven appearances as West Ham go marching on towards the latter stages of the competition.

In contrast, current domestic number one Fabianski boasts a save percentage of 69.7%; whilst still a solid metric, it is not a patch on Areola’s return.

As we approach the business end of the season in both competitions, Moyes will need a goalkeeper whom he can trust with his life, and at 36, Fabianski cannot stick around as the Hammers’ first-choice netminder for much longer.

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Today’s crucial clash against Everton could well be the best opportunity for Moyes to instil confidence and match sharpness into Areola, who will also be expected to perform in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Lyon on Thursday night.

With that match coming up in four days’ time, so it should be in Moyes’ best interests to give Areola a run-out against the Toffees today and have the Frenchman sharp, as he will be needed to offer a reliable last line of defence, just as he has done whenever trusted this season.

In other news – West Ham handed lift ahead of Everton clash, David Moyes will be buzzing

	Doug Bollinger has 44 Pura Cup wickets this season, eight more than his nearest rival Ashley Noffke © Getty Images

Two New South Wales players who are enjoying amazing domestic seasons have won more support for promotions to the national teams. Glenn McGrath believes Doug Bollinger, the left-arm fast bowler, is “in the mix” while Simon Katich, who has 1067 runs in seven Pura Cup games, has won the notice of Australia’s selection panel.David Gilbert, the New South Wales chief executive, could not believe Chris Rogers replaced Matthew Hayden for the third Test in Perth instead of Katich and complained. He has since talked to Jamie Cox, one of the four selectors, and learned Katich is a serious contender for the spare batting place on the March tour to Pakistan, which is currently in doubt due to political instability.”It’s fair to say [Jamie] was disappointed that I had spoken publicly about my concerns about Simon getting what I believed was a raw deal,” Gilbert told the Sun-Herald. “My point was that his performances this year had been Bradmanesque, but he seemed no closer to getting a look-in for the Test team.”After talking to ‘Coxy’, my mind is more at ease. Coxy assured me he’s being noticed by the selectors and that he’s in line for the spare batting spot in Pakistan.”Bollinger is the leading wicket-taker in the Pura Cup with 44 – eight more than Queensland’s Ashley Noffke – and McGrath is impressed with his “tremendous potential”. “He’s a left-armer, he swings the ball and has good control,” McGrath told the paper.”He’s unplayable on a wicket that offers a lot, but if he can fine-tune his game on wickets that aren’t bowler-friendly, he’ll improve. But he has done enough for an [Australia] opportunity.”

New Zealand have plenty of notes on Kenya, courtesy of Kenya’s former coach Andy Moles © Getty Images

John Bracewell said New Zealand needed a good win over Kenya on Tuesday to maintain their momentum leading into the Super Eights. A win would help New Zealand’s chances of progressing through the tournament as Kenya were still in the running to make it past the group phase.”We’ve got two points to carry through should England qualify,” Bracewell told . “That’s the importance of the Kenyan match. We have to win that just in case it’s Kenya who qualify because they are the other team with two points in the bag.”However, Bracewell was not prepared to look ahead at the prospect of reaching the semi-finals. “For us it’s game by game because rhythm is quite an important thing in any tournament on getting on a roll,” he said.Kenya opened their World Cup with a seven-wicket victory over Canada, meaning the winner of Tuesday’s game will sit on top of the Group C table. Bracewell said New Zealand might know more about Kenya than some sides, as they had enlisted the help of Andy Moles, the former Kenya coach who is now coaching Northern Districts in New Zealand’s domestic competition.”We’ve got a fair degree of notes from Andy Moles who worked with them over an extended period,” Bracewell said. “We’ve got a fair bit of scouting done on them.” Bracewell was keen to give the four members of New Zealand’s squad who did not face England a run during their last two group matches.