Defending champions touch down with confidence

Stephen Fleming's defending champions touched down in Sri Lanka on the weekend, confident that they could retain their crown in this year's ICC Champions Trophy.

The Clear Black Caps clinched a surprise win in ICC Knockout 2000 - the forerunner to the current tournament - overcoming Zimbabwe and Pakistan before defeating India in the final.

And despite a relatively poor run in the two years since - only 18 wins in 56 matches - Fleming believes good planning and hard work gives his side a good chance of success.

"We are excited by the prospect of defending a championship that we won pretty well last time and arrive here in very good heart," he said, speaking from the team's Colombo hotel.

New Zealand prepared for the tournament with four state games in Sydney, winning them all, and now have plenty of time to prepare for their first game on Sept 15.

"Australia was all about getting into the swing of playing again," he said. "The conditions will be very different here but just getting outside was the first step for us."

"We were lucky to have good weather and we come here early with a good programme in place for our preparation. We have two tough practice matches to get used to the heat and, in a weeks time, we should be ready to go."

Unfortunately, however, they need to defeat world champions Australia, who have been in ominous form during a tri-series in Kenya, to stay in the competition.

"We have confidence in our preparation and are going to be well prepared by the time that we play Australia," he claimed.

"We respect them as a cricket side and you have to be at the top of your game to compete well with them, but we back ourselves to do that through hard work and good planning."

He admitted, though, that the unavailability of injured Chris Cairns, who scored a match-winning hundred in the 2000 tournament, was a major blow.

"The absence of Chris Cairns has affected the balance of the side because he is a world-class all-rounder, but it has given an opportunity to younger players and they have come to the fore."

He singled out fast bowler Shane Bond and all-rounders Scott Styris and Jacob Oram as the players to look out for.

"Shane Bond - in excellent form after a stint with Warwickshire - is an exceptional talent, a fast bowler with genuine that we are very lucky to have. Jacob Oram is an exciting all-rounder and Scot Styris had a successful tour of the West Indies."

New Zealand have an unfortunate history in Sri Lanka, their tours frequently coinciding with terrorist attacks and security concerns.

Tours in 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2001 were all marred by security fears and three players refused to tour this time.

But Fleming appeared relaxed: "Everything has been very smooth so far. We have been here quite a few times so know what to expect and have looked forward to the visit."

He looked forward to the ICC's experiment with enhanced technological support for umpires during the tournament, including the use of replays for lbw decisions.

"The players are just waiting to see how it goes. This is the opportune time to try it out before the World Cup and we hope it goes well, adding another dimension to the game."