WELLINGTON, Feb. 4: New Zealand Cricket adopted a defiant stance Monday over the controversial bonus-point ploy that earned its team a place in the finals of the limited-overs tri-series in Australia.

New Zealanders were torn over whether the ploy by captain Stephen Fleming to deliberately concede a bonus point to the South Africans was justified.

Radio shows were clogged with callers variously praising and condemning Fleming’s decision.

The New Zealand Herald, the country’s largest-circulation daily newspaper, ran a scathing article decrying Fleming’s move.

“It was not a case of being hard-nosed or ruthless, it was a case of being cowardly,” the Herald said. “You would find more ethical behaviour at an organised dogfight.”

The Herald said Fleming could be charged under cricket’s code of conduct. “Fleming flouted one of the most serious laws in cricket but seems set to escape scot-free,” the newspaper said.

“Not only was the New Zealand captain’s order to lose the game against South Africa a flagrant breach of the opening principle of the ICC’s code of conduct, it also seems to fly in the face of a section that deals with corruption.

“Fleming’s action effectively predetermined the result of a match before it had taken its course and encouraged his teammates to underperform.

“The code of conduct ... recommends a life ban for any player who induces or encourages any other player not to perform on his merits.”

But New Zealand Cricket rallied behind Fleming and said his action was simply a response to an ill-judged decision to award bonus points in a one-day series.

Chief executive Martin Snedden said Fleming had taken the only option open to him and shown up the shortcomings of the rules.

“I think the key to the thing is that Stephen Fleming had exhausted the options he really had,” Snedden said. “He’s in a professional game. He had one option to use and he used it.

“Fleming had an obligation to his team to do it that way. It’s unfortunate it works out that way but those were the rules put in place.”

Snedden rejected any comparison with infamous 1981 underarm incident. “You just can’t compare the underarm incident with this series. It’s not in the same ballpark.”

Snedden attacked Australian captain Steve Waugh for his criticism of New Zealand’s action. “It’s entirely hypocritical of him,” Snedden said.

“We have simply returned the tactics Australia employed in the 1999 World Cup when they batted slowly against the West Indies to make sure New Zealand wouldn’t get through,” Snedden said.—PPI

WAUGH MAY LOSE ONE-DAY CAPTAINCY: