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Captaining down under

By Colin Spiro
From Channel 4 (UK), 24 October 2002

When New Zealand's rag-bag tourists pitched up for a three-Test series in Australia last winter no-one gave them a prayer, and yet just two months later the indefatigable Kiwis had waltzed off with pride still very much intact after a 0-0 draw.

The cheeky upstarts even had an unlikely late dash for victory and then had the immense satisfaction of depositing their hosts unceremoniously out of their own triangular one-day series.

The widely acknowledged mastermind behind such an unlikely outcome was New Zealand's tactically astute captain Stephen Fleming, already his country's most successful leader at just 29, who said their unexpected success owed much to detailed preparation, commitment and remaining positive throughout.

"We were confident in our planning and that was the key thing," said the elegant left-hander. "If you put yourself one on one with Australia then you're always going to come up short, so you've got to find other ways of creating pressure and creating an environment within yourself so that you get confidence.

"One of the big things they have is that psychologically you go to Australia on the back foot. Then their media let you know it, their first-class teams let you know it and the whole time you're just being bombarded by the public. It's not hostile but it's just a very intense environment so you've got to have confidence within your squad with what you're doing and that comes I think from a lot of planning and focus on key areas."

Detractors claimed that rain was New Zealand's greatest ally but the facts don't bear that out. The truth is that Fleming out-thought Steve Waugh tactically and the Kiwis simply refused to be cowered. They were never bowled out throughout the entire series and several of Australia's key performers were all but neutralised. Most notably, Glenn McGrath (five wickets at 65.4), Shane Warne (six wickets at 71.66), Damien Martyn (94 runs at 23.5) and Waugh himself (67 runs at 19.5).

The secret, said Fleming, was to break the mental dominance of Australia's perceived invincibility. "In cricket you can be too wide in your focus and if you just narrow it down you can train a lot more specific and you can action certain plans."

Countering McGrath's potential threat was a case in point.

"He's obviously a quality bowler and you look at how and when he poses a threat to you and you just work out a way. But it comes back again to individual planning, whether you're going to play him or leave him, whether you just look to see him off, and you've just got to keep in tune with that plan because once you get into a pressure situation you resort back to kind, and that most often is when players get out," suggested Fleming.

He also traded on the two countries' traditional rivalry. "That always adds to it," he asserted. "You always want to do well in Australia, everyone is pretty much judged by the way they go against Australia these days so we were really up for it. We spent a lot of time thinking about that series and New Zealand always takes a lot of interest in anythnig against Australia."

One of the most refreshing aspects of the series, apart from seeing the Aussies sweat, was the positive nature of both captains and their willingness to engineer results despite the loss of so much play due to rain.

"We both had opportunities to win but coming out of the other side it was just a fantastic series to play in and I think the Australians appreciated it as well. It was just real good fun. We set up a couple of the games – at Brisbane and Perth – and that's something I love about Steve Waugh. He's always into that, he loves trying to get a result."

New Zealand's ability to stay in the matches until the final day said much for their determination not to fold while also pointing a possible way forward for Nasser Hussain's team this winter. With Australia so focused on winning, so the theory goes, they'll try anything to complete their aim even if that means risking defeat for the sake of victory.

"There were times when we were really under the gun and then our tail came through," admitted Fleming. "The Australians, because they're such a good side, will win crucial moments and you've just got to know when they are and hang in as long as possible.

"We started each match pretty badly apart from the 3rd one but the key thing for us was to just hang in there. It was just survival to a point where we could get back in the game. They kept hammering away at us and you've got to reply, but if you do then it's magical, it's the greatest thrill you can have,... it's brilliant."

He added: "It all comes back to being positive. Whichever way you decide to do it you have to commit 100% because you're going to get put under pressure at some stage. If it's a case of starving the Australian batsmen then you've got to do it for the whole series, you can't just flirt with it because it just takes even longer to put them under pressure.

"What I'm trying to say is that whichever way England decide to go, whatever way we went, it's 110%. You have to otherwise you;re going to get exposed, and you've got to believe in whatever tactic you use, whether it's to starve them or fight fire with fire. Each team is different and each team has its own qualities and you just have to believe in them because you get tested to the max."

England, he suggests, should continue with their positive batting of late and try to take the fight to the Australians.

"I know they will do their homework and they will look at ways they can exploit the Australians with their bowling attack, and batting wise as well. They're batting very aggressively at the moment which is a great thing. It's a tough thing, as I know being captain, to be under pressure from ball one so that's a good thing and I look forward to that confrontation with the Australian bowlers."

So, does he believe England can emulate New Zealand or, dare one think it, even go a step further?

"Yeah, I give them a good chance and I think it's going to be a fantastic series to watch," replied Fleming. "Nasser's going to do a lot of planning I'm sure because the Ashes is very important, and they've got a good balance in their side at the moment.

"They played good aggressive cricket against us in New Zealand. Their batsmen are very aggressive at the top, which is really tough, and it's good because it's going to create them time to win the match. Taking 20 wickets in Australia is tough though and every team battles to do that."