Bracewell says Fleming will play

Stephen Fleming, New Zealand's captain, is a doubt for next week's opening Test against England at Lord's with an abdominal injury, even though John Bracewell, the coach, has suggested Fleming will be fit to play.

The injury, which he has had since last November, caused him to miss the tour of Pakistan last year, and has flared up again this week. He missed New Zealand's current final warm-up game against Kent as only a precautionary measure, inisisted Bracewell. When asked if Fleming would play, Bracewell said, "Yes,I think it's been over-dramatised a bit."

Fleming had a cortisone injection before the long flight to England, and although that appeared to have eased the problem, he is still suffering serious discomfort when running, and he had to sit out the final day against Worcestershire last week. When he was asked whether he would be fit for the opening Test, he replied, "I don't know, it's touch and go."

Bracewell, though, was still optimistic that Fleming, who led New Zealand to a series victory in England in 1999, would make it. "I'm fairly concerned, we're not risking him in this match to give him every chance of playing in the Test," Bracewell said. "He finds it difficult to run, so we're going to take him out of running, give him a good course of treatment. He'll have high intensity net sessions so he's getting the batting that is required to keep him sharp enough."

The four-day match at Canterbury will give Bracewell another chance to look at Shane Bond, who made a mixed comeback against Worcestershire. "He's ahead of where we all thought he would be," Bracewell said. "But we've got to keep level-headed on that. While it's tempting short-term, we have to make sure the long-term plan is the key."