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| January 29, 2003 | Wednesday | Ziqa’ad 25,1423 |
Fleming declines comments on security
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 28: New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming declined to discuss whether his team’s cricket World Cup match in Nairobi should be moved to South Africa, when his team arrived for the tournament on Tuesday.
The New Zealand squad arrived in Johannesburg hours after reports were published quoting New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden as questioning the safety of players visiting Kenya.
New Zealand are scheduled to play Kenya in Nairobi on Feb 21, with Sri Lanka due to take on the Kenyans three days later.
Both fixtures have been thrown into doubt in the wake of the bombing of a Mombasa hotel that killed 17 people in November.
“The players are trying to take in as much as possible and keep themselves informed about the situation,” Fleming told reporters. “But it’s not fair that players should have to voice their opinions in any way.”
New Zealand abandoned a tour to Pakistan last May after a bomb that exploded outside their hotel in Karachi killed 12 people.
The Black Caps’ confidence has been boosted by their 5-2 victory over India in a home series of limited-overs matches played on drop-in, sub-standard pitches.
“Form is important, but we are likely to play on better batting wickets in South Africa,” Fleming said. “I couldn’t be happier with our results going into a World Cup.
“We have a settled squad and that’s important. We have a lot of young players, but they have played a lot of internationals.”—Reuters
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