Fleming left out of Twenty20 squad

LONDON, England -- New Zealand Test captain Stephen Fleming has been left out of the Kiwi squad for next month's inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa with the selectors confirming Daniel Vettori as the new skipper.

Vettori was the obvious choice to succeed Fleming as skipper after he quit the one-day captaincy following this year's World Cup.

Fleming said he wanted to continue leading the New Zealand Test team and would be available to play in the one-day side if needed.

Head coach John Bracewell said the selectors had decided to leave Fleming out of the Twenty20 World Cup squad to allow Vettori to stamp his authority on the captaincy.

Mahela Jayawardene will lead a strong Sri Lankan team to the Twenty20 World Cup.

The 15-man squad shows no surprises, with prolific off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan confirmed to play after earlier reports suggested that he may be rested from the 12-nation tournament.

Left-handed opener Jehan Mubarak takes over from former captain Marvan Atapattu, who earlier this week asked Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to be released from his contract with the national team. His wish was granted on Monday.

Bangladesh have axed spinner Mohammad Rafique and opening batsman Shahriar Nafees to make room for three uncapped players in their 15-man Twenty20 squad for next month's tournament.

Uncapped batsmen Junaid Siddique and Nazimuddin and pace bowler Ziaur Rahman were in the squad announced on Thursday. Batsman Alok Kapali also got a recall.

"We have dropped Rafique and Nafees as their performances during the July tour to Sri Lanka were not satisfactory," said chief selector Faruk Ahmed told a news conference.

Bangladesh suffered 3-0 defeats in the Test and one-day series against Sri Lanka.

Ashley Giles has become the first member of England's victorious 2005 Ashes-winning side to announce his retirement from cricket.

The 34-year-old left-arm spinner has been struggling with a hip injury for over a year and after playing in the opening two Tests of the Ashes series in Australia last year made way for Monty Panesar.

He has not played this season due to the injury and made the decision after taking medical advise.

Giles took 143 wickets in 54 Tests and one of his best performances came during his final appearance at The Oval where he made a Test-best 59 and shared in a decisive 109-run eighth wicket stand with Kevin Pietersen, which secured the draw that won the Ashes. E-mail to a friend