Kiwis announce provisional squad for Champions Trophy

Christchurch, Aug 16 (UNI) All-rounder Craig McMillan was the notable omission from New Zealand's 30-member provisional squad announced for the October-November Champions Trophy in India today.

The team will be trimmed to 14 on September 7, the ICC deadline to announce the final squads for the mini World Cup.

The selectors said McMillan was dropped because of his lack of fitness and have not ruled out the possibility of his selection for next year's World Cup.

''He will need to focus his efforts if he is to be selected for the Black Caps over the summer,'' Kiwi coach and convener John Bracewell told a New Zealand Press Association here.

The preliminary squad surprisingly has Chris Harris, who has been dropped from the central contract list.

New Zealand squad: Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Stephen Fleming, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Chris Harris, Gareth Hopkins, Jamie How, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Chris Martin, Michael Mason, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan, Warren McSkimming, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Mark Orchard, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Bradley Scott, Mathew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Lou Vincent, Daniel Vettori UNI XC PM RK1355