Fleming relishes escape from spotlight

By Mark Geenty
From STUFF, 28 June 2002

Stephen Fleming added another leaf to his bulging captaincy CV this week when he led the Black Caps to their first test cricket win in the West Indies. He tells Mark Geenty why he sometimes welcomes life outside the New Zealand spotlight.

ST GEORGE'S: No matter what he does, Stephen Fleming can never hide from his critics in New Zealand.

Whether they be in the media, on radio talkback or punters in the street, Fleming eventually hears most of it and he readily admits it has its effect, no matter how thick-skinned he has become in six years in charge.

A cricket captain's job is arguably the most difficult in sport and any apparent blunder can be seized upon.

Fleming is only human and he has made a few errors, but more often his cool, calculating style has won out.

"When the criticism's all around you and your friends are talking about it, it dictates a lot of conversation no matter how much you try and escape," Fleming told NZPA.

"Being captain you have to open yourself up to a lot of feedback and that can affect your performance."

It's no coincidence that Fleming averages 10 runs more per innings overseas than at home, almost 40, and that difference increased this week with his beautifully crafted 130 in the first test in Bridgetown, Barbados.

It won him a rare man-of-the-match award, helped his side win by 204 runs and gave Fleming his 17th win as captain, exactly one-third of all New Zealand's test wins.

Three of his four test centuries, plus his 99 against South Africa in Bloemfontein in late 2000, have been scored on tour while his home innings have often been punctuated by inexplicable lapses in the 60s and 70s, contributing to a poor conversion rate of 50s to 100s.

Fleming, still just 29, almost seems to take on a different persona away from home. Gone is the furrowed brow and sternness often seen during the home summer and he appears more approachable, at peace with the world.

"I enjoy the space you get to when you tour. You have no pressures of living at home, you can be completely selfish. It's not a great way to live but cricket-wise it's not a bad space to be in.

"My record suggests I play better away from home and that could have something to do with it. You don't hear the criticism, you don't even read a paper over here.

"Your mind's a lot clearer and you just go about your work."

The current tour has seen Fleming's captaincy go full circle. He has now led New Zealand to every major test-playing nation and has won in England, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and now the West Indies.

He rated this week's win as a highlight. Aside from his innings, he stuck his neck out and opted not to enforce the follow-on despite leading by 230 so that his bowlers had the last crack on a wearing pitch.

He also held off his key spinner, Daniel Vettori, while the in-form Carl Hooper was batting and rotated his pacemen, got the breakthrough and brought Vettori back to take the key wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul. The end came soon afterwards.

Fleming lists three big influences on his captaincy and interestingly they are all Australian legends.

Steve Waugh is No 1, closely followed by now television commentators Ian Chappell and Richie Benaud, both of whom have advised him sagely during two tours across the Tasman.

"The Australians are good, they're very blunt about things. They're up front and give you a good perspective."

Waugh helped Fleming through his roughest time when he considered resigning after dual one-day series losses at home to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka early last year.

Fleming felt he had become "automatic" in the job and after speaking to Waugh and watching him operate it all became clearer.

"It was a good time to reflect and I came away with a determination to do the job with more energy and clarity. It was the only time I've had doubts."

That culminated in one of Fleming's finest hours, last summer's VB Series when his tactical nous, field settings and the onslaught of paceman Shane Bond sunk Waugh and Australia out of the one-day finals in Australia.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden suggested Fleming had played a part in Waugh's subsequent demise as his country's one-day captain.

"I felt sad because Steve's been fantastic. Even after Pakistan he was one of the first to leave a message on my phone saying 'I hope you guys are all right'," Fleming said.

"He's done that throughout at crucial times. I respect the guy more than anyone else in the game.

"While we did put them under some pressure, it certainly wasn't something we set out to do. I'd much rather see him in the game than out of it."

The tour-ending bomb outside the team hotel in Karachi last month took everything a step further for Fleming, who witnessed body parts and a man wandering dazed without an arm.

He saw the worst sights and had the sickening thought his team-mates were among the dead. On arrival home in Auckland he cried when reliving the moment in front of the press, when the captain, team-mate and friend in him all spilled out.

"You realise how much these guys mean to you, the relationships you develop are pretty special.

"It was the hardest, because we were close to losing players. The what-if's made me emotional. What if I'd lost two or three of my mates?"

Fleming spent the three weeks off before this tour adjusting to normal life back in Wellington, spending valuable time with partner Kelly Payne and dealing with everyday issues like opening mail and paying the bills.

If touring is Fleming's preferred cricketing option, it works the opposite with his personal life.

"I try and get some normality in my life with Kelly, relationship-wise. You always need to work on that because you develop a selfish attitude on tour and you take that home.

"It takes a few weeks to get that out of your system and you have to work hard on it, just getting back to the base level with your friends."

Fleming still has a loyal base of friends from Cashmere High School in Christchurch, where he quickly rose to captaincy ranks at junior level and looked certain for higher honours.

He is amused by past reactions to his schooling and the raised eyebrows that he didn't attend a 'fashionable' college.

His mother, Pauline, still travels to attend home games, just as she did when carting him around the country to endless age-grade tournaments.

His father, Gary, lives in Australia and there is only occasional contact.

Although Fleming said confidence had grown in him to deal better with the many cricketing critics, it was never easy for his mother.

"She still loves her cricket and is proud, as most mothers are.

"She probably hears things more than what I do and she listens to Radio Sport, which is wrong."

[Articles]