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Kiwi board upset with Cup organisers

New Zealand cricket officials have been left embarrassed and angry after World Cup organisers ignored a request to keep its preliminary squad secret.

All countries competing in the tournament were expected to supply a shortlist of 19, from which the final squad of 15 was to be drawn up. The organisers were supplied with the shortlists in order to enable them to compile player profiles for marketing purposes. However, it is not mandatory for the boards to release the lists to the media.

The New Zealand board had picked its shortlist and passed it on to the organisers. However, the board had not informed the players on its list, because the international season is still on, with South Africa touring for a Test and ODI series, and it didn't want players who missed out to be discouraged. The Kiwi board, thus,requested the organisers to hold on to the list and not make it public.

"They have chosen to ignore our request. That's a bit disappointing,'' NZC chief executive Christopher Doig said.

"We didn't want an announcement in the middle of the season. We didn't want to send messages to players that they were in or out mid-season.''

The premature leak of the Kiwi list forced the NZC officials to make a hurried round of telephone calls to its players, in a bid to lessen the shock where required.

New Zealand squad: Nathan Astle, Matthew Horne, Bryan Young, Matthew Bell, Craig Mcmillan, Stephen Fleming, Chris Cairns, Roger Twose, Chris Harris, Adam Parore, Dion Nash, Daniel Vettori, Matthew Hart, Gavin Larsen, Carl Bulfin, Simon Doull, Shayne o'Connor, Chris Drum, Geoff Allott.