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WELLINGTON, Sunday (Reuters) - New Zealand Cricket (NZC) says it may appeal to Switzerland's Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to end the stand-off over its refusal to play a World Cup game in Kenya later this month.

An NZC spokesman, who declined to be identified, said that registering a case before the Geneva-based CAS was an option being explored by its lawyers in an attempt to save the February 21 match against Kenya.

"It's one of the options being looked at but we are working through legal options at the moment," the spokesman told Reuters.

The NZC wants the game moved to South Africa, where most of the World Cup fixtures will be played, because of fears over the safety of its players.

Security concerns over Kenya intensified after a suicide bombing killed 16 people in an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in the city of Mombassa in November. Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network claimed responsibility.

Zimbabwe and Kenya on Thursday retained their preliminary matches for the World Cup after a special International Cricket Council (ICC) tele-conference discussed potential security fears.

On Monday the England team issued a statement saying they wanted their game in Harare on February 13 switched to South Africa because of growing concern about the political situation in Zimbabwe.

The NZC said after a day-long board meeting on Friday that the ICC decision on Thursday was unreasonable, and called in its lawyers to resolve the matter through "legal processes". But it gave no details.

NZC chief executive Martin Snedden was unavailable for comment on Sunday but he was quoted by local media as being "increasingly optimistic" that the Kenya match could be saved.

"I have confidence that can be achieved. This is a rapidly moving issue. I have more optimism today than yesterday," he reportedly told New Zealand's Sunday Star Times newspaper.

The 19-year-old CAS has more than 150 arbitrators from 55 countries chosen for their specialist knowledge of arbitration and sports law, according to the court's website.

Around 50 cases are registered with the court each year but there are also other independent processes available to the NZC through which it can seek a review of the ICC decision.

Other possible options include an independent ICC committee of up to five members hearing the dispute, or arbitration through the ICC World Cup Events Technical Committee.

"I imagine we would be in more of a position to say what we are doing legally by about Tuesday," the NZC spokesman said.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed is working to see if there is any prospect of the match proceeding or being rescheduled.

World Cup executive director Ali Bacher has said that the New Zealanders would automatically forfeit all four points from the Kenya match.

Australia and West Indies lost their points at the 1996 World Cup when they refused to play in Colombo after bomb blasts there the previous week.

Kenya are now left with just one match in the tournament, which begins with an opening ceremony in Cape Town on February 8. Sri Lanka are scheduled to play Kenya in Nairobi on February 24.

The tournament is based in South Africa, with six of the 54 games taking place in Zimbabwe.

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