Fleming is truly a star
By Joseph Romanos
From Stuff, 29 April 2003
Until this season, Stephen Fleming had been the captain
of New Zealand, but never the star player.
Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle, Daniel Vettori, Adam Parore
and, more recently, Shane Bond, were regarded as being
near the top world class, but not Fleming. Instead,
Fleming won renown for having the worst conversion rate
(the ability to turn half-centuries into centuries)
in the history of test cricket for a batsman scoring
2000 runs.
After 62 tests – more than the length of John
R Reid's career – Fleming had scored just two centuries,
but had reached 50 a staggering 31 times. There was
much scoffing and sniggering at this statistic.
He threw his wicket away; couldn't concentrate; was
setting himself low standards; was 'soft'.
Of course, critics overlooked the fact that Fleming
was maintaining a test average in the high 30s and was
therefore contributing consistently well. The focus,
instead, was on his inability to press on and make big
scores.
I don't expect we'll hear that sort of criticism again
soon, not after Fleming's epic 10-hour effort at Colombo
in the first test against Sri Lanka.
Fleming faced 476 balls in strength-sapping heat and
humidity and made 274 not out, this against an attack
that included Muttiah Muralitharan, the most potent
spin "bowler" in test history.
Only a selfless act by Fleming deprived him of the
chance to become the first New Zealander to hit a test
triple-century. He declared the New Zealand innings
closed when he was scoring at will against a dispirited
attack.
So the record for the highest test score by a New Zealander
remains with Martin Crowe, who made 299 against Sri
Lanka at the Basin Reserve in 1991. That's fine by me
– Crowe was the best batsman produced by New Zealand
and it is fitting he should top the list of highest-scorers.
And anyway, Fleming will soon hold the record for the
most test runs scored by a New Zealander. He currently
has 4569 and is zeroing in on Crowe's target of 5444.
As Fleming has just turned 30 and is only now entering
his cricket prime, there is no telling what he will
end up with.
Considering he hasn't been nearly as fashionable as
some of his team-mates, Fleming has done some amazing
things during his nine years in the national team.
He holds the record for the most catches in tests (111),
and long ago passed Geoff Howarth as New Zealand's most
successful captain, having become, at 23, New Zealand's
youngest regular test captain.
And this is without even dwelling on his considerable
achievements in one-day cricket.
Those who follow cricket closely have known for some
time that Fleming had moved his game up a notch. His
brilliant century against South Africa at the World
Cup a few weeks back was proof of that. Now he has done
it on the test stage, too.
Fleming made his test debut at Hamilton in 1994 and
scored 92 on debut, handling an attack that included
Srinath, Dev and Kumble with aplomb. It seemed then
that Fleming was born to be a test cricketer.
And so it has proven. It's just that it's taken him
nine years to really hammer home the message.
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