By RICHARD BOOCK
Stephen Fleming is facing some last-minute cramming before the annual international cricket captains' meeting in Melbourne on Monday.
The New Zealand skipper is one of eight captains attending the conference, part of an International Cricket Council meeting, but has not given the matter much thought because of his team's predicament in its one-day series against Sri Lanka.
"Stephen hasn't put his head around the meeting yet, so he doesn't want to comment on it," a team spokesman said yesterday.
"Right now he's giving everything he's got to the current series, and he doesn't want to be distracted from this priority."
The Black Caps spent yesterday practising for Sunday's final one-dayer against Sri Lanka.
The captains' conference will follow an ICC executive board meeting.
It will be chaired by former Indian captain and opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar.
Captains attending are Fleming, Stephen Waugh (Australia), Jimmy Adams (West Indies), Heath Streak (Zimbabwe), Naimur Rahman (Bangladesh), Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Moin Khan (Pakistan) and Shaun Pollock (South Africa).
England's Nasser Hussain and India's Saurav Ganguly are unable to attend as they are preparing their teams for forthcoming series against Sri Lanka and Australia.
Topics on the agenda are likely to include issues such as sledging, playing conditions and the use of technology in umpires' decision-making.
Recommendations will be sent to the ICC cricket committee meeting scheduled for London in May.
This meeting will review playing conditions for international cricket for the next three years.
But it is still unclear whether the meeting will discuss the concerns of player advocates, who are demanding that the ICC take a tougher stand in protecting the reputations of cricketers from unsubstantiated allegations.
Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive Tim May has confirmed he is awaiting ICC approval to speak at the captains forum.
Cricket: Fleming puts Black Caps' plight first
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