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."
|
