NZC rubbish claims

New Zealand Cricket has rubbished reports of a rift occurring between coach John Bracewell and captain Stephen Fleming.

Tuesday’s Dominion Post suggested that Bracewell and Fleming were not on speaking terms before the one-day series in South Africa.

Fleming and NZC chief-executive Martin Sneddon have strongly denied any disharmony existed, telling the New Zealand Herald it was “pure fabrication”.

“Braces and Flem have a good, healthy and robust working relationship, and share a great respect for each other.

“They challenge one another over various issues because they have the confidence and experience to do that, but I know that each of them values the input that the other brings to the table, and wouldn’t want it to be any different.”

Sneddon also put to rest the claim that all-rounder Chris Cairns’ axing was a catalyst behind any rift, and the theory that selector Glenn Turner was the main reason behind his omission.

“People need to realise that the concerns over Chris Cairns’ fitness were first raised with the player back in April, two months before the new selection panel was convened. Glenn’s alleged involvement is just a red herring, it’s not even an issue at all.”

Bracewell was annoyed that Turner was implicated in the dropping of Cairns.

“It needs to be emphasised that my concerns were spelt out to Christopher well before the formation of this selection panel, and that it’s just not true to suggest Glenn had a hand in it,” he said.

“It was my decision. The others supported it, because they understood that I was the one on tour in Zimbabwe, and that I was the one with the most up-to-date information.”