PRETORIA, Feb 1: New Zealand’s cricket team remained hopeful of playing its match against Kenya at a South African venue, Kiwi manager Jeff Crowe said late on Friday, following the team’s earlier announcement that it would not travel to Nairobi.

“All the documentation is in the hands of the International Cricket Council, so I don’t want to elaborate right now,” said Crowe.

“But from Sunday the role of administering the World Cup moves to the technical committee and they then can make the relevant decisions on match scheduling,” he told the SAPA news agency.

New Zealand bowled the first bouncer of the 2003 tournament by announcing Friday they would not play in their World Cup match in Kenya on Feb 21 due to fears for the safety and security of players.

The announcement was met with disappointment by both the organisers and Kenyan cricket authorities, who on Friday extended a fresh invitation to the Black Caps to play the fixture in the east African country.

Later Friday, the ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said that he recognised the Kiwis’ concerns and that he would be working to see if there was any prospect of the match proceeding or being rescheduled.

“The issue of safety and security is clearly the main concern of both the ICC and New Zealand Cricket and, at present, NZC is not satisfied that it is safe to play in Kenya,” said Speed.

“We will make available our intelligence and security advisors to provide a detailed briefing on the advice that we have received in relation to this game.

“There are also independent processes available to the NZC through which it can seek a review of the ICC’s judgement and decision. NZC is entitled to seek this review.”

However, the ICC technical committee is unlikely to reverse a decision by its own body that the games in Kenya and Zimbabwe should go ahead.

New Zealand’s announcement effectively puts Kenya at the top of Group B just over a week before the official start of the tournament, while putting the Kiwis at a points disadvantage which could make a difference when qualifying for the Super Sixes, the second stage of the event.

Kiwi vice-captain Chris Cairns said the loss of points was a non-issue.

“That is is for New Zealand cricket and for the politicians, not for me.

“I just want to focus on the event and right now all that’s important for me is our first match against Sri Lanka,” said Cairns.—AFP