Rhodes insists fielding and fitness vital for minnows

Round up of news from the cricket World Cup.

Kenya

Jonty Rhodes, the fielding guru, understands the batting or bowling limitations of an emerging team but he finds it completely inexcusable if they lack in fielding or fitness. During the course of his 11-year one-day career, the South African revolutionised fielding and one of the enduring images of the 1992 World Cup was of an airborne Rhodes flying into the stumps with the ball in hand to run out Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq in Brisbane. Rhodes has enjoyed his stint as Kenya's fielding coach and said there was no reason why the associate teams could not match the traditional powerhouses when it comes to fielding in the World Cup. "I made my debut in 1992," Rhodes said ahead of today's game with New Zealand. "We had guys with no international experience whatsoever. We identified two departments we could be the best in the world - best fielding team and the fittest team."

New Zealand

The New Zealand spinner Nathan McCullum returned from hospital to join yesterday's practice session but the team management is still in two minds whether to play him in today's Group A opener against Kenya. Daniel Vettori, captain of the Black Caps, sounded wary of rushing the off-spinner, taken to hospital on Thursday with a high fever, into sharing the spin burden. "He is feeling a lot better but we might take a decision at the last minute," Vettori said.

Pakistan

Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, has urged his side's experienced players to shoulder the burden of responsibility at the World Cup after a disappointing defeat in their final warm-up match. The dashing batsman and leg-spinner missed Friday's 67-run defeat by England in Dhaka, but insisted bouncing back was nothing new for his side. "This is not the first time we are saying sorry for our performance," Afridi told the Press Trust of India. "All of us as a team now have to perform and give our best in the World Cup. The senior players including myself have a very important role to play in this World Cup. We must show the way to the youngsters who are playing in the tournament for the first time."

ICC

The International Cricket Council's plan to trim the next World Cup to 10 teams is a step "backward", Zimbabwe's batting coach, Grant Flower, said yesterday. "I don't agree with that," Flower said of the proposal. I think these [smaller] nations need exposure to develop. Obviously, there are pros and cons for that decision. If it does happen I see it as things going backward and not forward." Haroon Lorgat, the cricket council's chief executive, said on Friday the World Twenty20 would be increased to 16 teams instead of 12, while the 50-over World Cup would be cut to 10. A total of 14 teams are involved in the 2011 World Cup but the ICC wants to reduce the number because it feels the event has become too unwieldy.

Australia

Shane Watson, the Australia all-rounder, said he has "big shoes to fill" but has vowed to do his best to get his team off to a flying start in their quest for a fourth consecutive World Cup. Watson, who opens the batting for the reigning champions, excelled in the limited time he had at the crease at the 2007 World Cup, when the big-hitting pair Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist opened the batting "It is a much bigger responsibility opening the innings and trying to lay a great platform for the team, like Hayden and Gilchrist did, especially in World Cups," said Watson, who batted lower down the order in the Caribbean four years ago. "They are big shoes to fill because they have always performed well."