New Zealand Test captain Stephen Fleming has been left out of the Kiwi squad for next month’s inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa after the selectors confirmed Daniel Vettori as the new skipper.
Vettori was the obvious choice to succeed Fleming as skipper after he quit the one-day captaincy following this year’s World Cup in the Caribbean.
Fleming said he wanted to continue leading the New Zealand Test team and would be available to play in the one-day side if needed.
Head coach John Bracewell said the selectors had decided to leave Fleming out of the Twenty20 World Cup squad to allow Vettori to stamp his authority on the captaincy.
”Stephen Fleming has been omitted from the squad,” Bracewell said in a statement on Thursday.
”This is the first opportunity for Daniel to captain the team abroad and we wanted to ensure he and the team were not looking to Stephen for leadership.
”We also thought it would be a good opportunity for Stephen to remain with Nottinghamshire to build towards the longer forms of the game.”
All-rounder James Franklin was also overlooked for the 15-man squad, losing his spot to the uncapped Bradley Scott, while wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum’s younger brother, Nathan, was called up for his first senior international squad. — Reuters