Thirst for knowledge leaves Fleming
walking tall
From the Courier Mail, 29 January 2002
BEFORE leaving home for this Australian tour four
months ago, New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming
read The Art of Captaincy, by shrewd English skipper
Mike Brearley.
Though much of the book has become antiquated, Fleming
picked out a few pearls before posting it on to New
Zealand journalist Richard Boock after inscribing the
message "knowledge is a wonderful thing" inside
the front cover.
Indeed it is and Fleming's insatiable quest for every
little piece of knowledge that can help his cause has
become a feature of his rise from a shy, hesitant skipper
to an imposing leader of a blossoming side.
It is time to dip our lids to this fine general who
now ranks as the best young captain in the game and
the most impressive rival captain to visit Australia
for a decade.
Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock, Alec Stewart, Mike
Atherton, Wasim Akram and Graham Gooch are just some
of the big name leaders to come to Australia in recent
years with better credentialled sides than Fleming and
be completely poleaxed.
Several left as mental wrecks. Many lost or surrendered
their jobs.
Yet here we are on January 29 with Australia, after
three Test draws and three one-day losses, still searching
for its first win against a Kiwi side whose captain
has never walked taller.
Extraordinary. When the Kiwis arrived in Australia
in October they looked hopeless.
A glorified district team from Canberra smashed them
to all parts of Manuka Oval, Queensland's second XI
put them through the shredder and at various stages
bowlers Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Shayne O'Connor
and Dion Nash went home injured.
Yet despite all the adversity, Fleming is about to
do what only a select band of captains have done in
recent history . . . leave an Australian tour with an
enhanced reputation.
West Indian Richie Richardson won plaudits for the
firm, cheerful guidance he gave to a side that beat
Australia in Australia nine years ago -- but it was
an outstanding team.
Jeremy Coney (New Zealand) and Mike Gatting (England)
were thoughtful, robust leaders of teams that won series
in Australia in the mid-1980s but that was when Australia
was half the side it is now.
When he visited Australia four years ago, Fleming
was a far more robotic and less intuitive captain than
he is now.
A key to Fleming's success
this time has been the thoughtful, precise and well-executed
game plans.
From bowling short balls to the Waugh brothers, to
keeping Ricky Ponting on the front foot, to plugging
up Adam Gilchrist's three key scoring areas, Fleming
has been doing the things Australia least wants him
to do.
Sometimes, as in the case of Damien Martyn's uppish
backfoot slashes, Fleming has deliberately fed a strength
to turn it into a weakness.
Whenever Steve Waugh comes to the crease now, Fleming
waits a ball then jogs up to speak to his bowler in
a gesture that halts the game and heightens the pressure.
Even Fleming's mother Pauline said recently she was
taken aback by the sight of her boy stopping the
game to make a ploy. She said she had never seen him
so animated or confident.
Fleming was raised by his mother and primary school
teachers who remember him as a shy, introspective lad
are surprised he has blossomed into a leader of men.
It has not been an easy road.
Only last year New Zealand selection chairman Richard
Hadlee delayed releasing a team because he was not sure
Fleming wanted to be captain.
But then Fleming flew to an international captains'
meeting in Melbourne, chatted to a few senior leaders,
suddenly convinced himself he wanted the job and has
been a figure of immense strength ever since.
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