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Stephen Fleming

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Stephen Fleming
Source: [1], March 25 2008

Stephen Paul Fleming (born in Christchurch on 1 April, 1973) is a New Zealand cricketer, and the former captain of the New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, in Test and one-day cricket. Known for his astute tactical abilities, he is New Zealand's most capped test player with 111 appearances, longest-serving and most successful captain [1], having led the side to 28 victories and having won Test match series' against India, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. He retired from international cricket on 26 March 2008. Fleming will continue to play cricket in the Indian Premier League for the Chennai Super Kings after being signed for US$350,000 [2].

On 9 May 2007 Fleming married his long term partner Kelly Payne in a ceremony held in Wellington. The couple also have a young daughter born in 2006. His father was President of the South Christchurch Cricket Club.

Career performance

A left-handed batsman, Fleming made his Test debut in March 1994 against India winning the Man of the Match award on debut after scoring 92. In 1995 he survived controversy when he was caught and admitted to smoking marijuana with teammates Matthew Hart and Dion Nash while on tour at their hotel. In England's tour of New Zealand in 1996/7 he scored his maiden Test century in the First Test at Auckland. In the Third Test of the tour he took over the captaincy from Lee Germon becoming New Zealand's youngest captain at 23 years and 321 days.

Fleming became New Zealand's most successful captain in September 2000 with a victory over Zimbabwe. This was the 12th win under his captaincy overtaking Geoff Howarth. Fleming was long regarded as an underperformer with the bat, with one of the worst 50 to 100 conversion ratios in world cricket. However since the 2003 tour of Sri Lanka, Fleming has silenced his critics, with 274 not out against Sri Lanka - when Fleming selflessly declared rather than staying to reach 300 which would have been a record in New Zealand cricket history.

Arguably Fleming's best ODI innings was his unbeaten 134 to help New Zealand beat hosts South Africa in the 2003 World Cup. Chasing a rain adjusted target of 229 off 39 overs, Fleming hit 134 off just 132 deliveries as New Zealand cruised to a 9-wicket victory over a team they had struggled against in the past. Fleming has not been one of the world's leading ODI batsmen at any stage of his career but has seven other centuries to his credit.

Fleming adjusting the field at Nottinghamshire. Fleming was regarded as one of the world's best cricket captains.

Fleming has played county cricket in England for Middlesex, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. He captained Nottinghamshire to County Championship victory in 2005, their first Championship title in 18 years.

In the second Test between New Zealand and South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town in April 2006, Fleming scored his 3rd Test double-century and became the first New Zealander to achieve this feat. Fleming scored 262 as he and Wellington team-mate James Franklin put 256 runs for the 8th wicket, the highest partnership to date in Tests between New Zealand and South Africa. It is also a New Zealand record for the 8th wicket against any country.

On 25 October 2006, Fleming captained his country for the 194th time in an ODI - a world record, overtaking Arjuna Ranatunga. On 24 April 2007, Fleming resigned as the ODI captain of the Blackcaps. The announcement was made in a post-match press conference held after the Semi-Final defeat to Sri Lanka in the 2007 Cricket World Cup [3]. After Fleming's last match as captain, Mahela Jayawardene added a tribute. "Stephen's been a great leader for New Zealand for some time, and you could learn a lot from him". Over a decade of leading the side he finished with 218 games, 98 wins, 106 losses.

There was speculation in 2007 that he might join controversial Indian rebel Twenty20 league, the Indian Cricket League. However it turned out to be unfounded and he has since joined the 'official' Indian Twenty20 league, the Indian Premier League, and will play for the Chennai Super Kings in the league's initial incarnation.

As of April 2007, Fleming had captained New Zealand in 80 Test matches -- a New Zealand record and the second highest number worldwide [4]. As a fielder, Fleming took over 170 catches giving him the 3rd highest Test aggregate for a non-wicketkeeper[5].

In September 2007, Fleming was replaced by Daniel Vettori as the New Zealand Test captain. He also left English county Nottinghamshire after three years as captain. In February 2008 Fleming ended speculation and confirmed he is retiring from the New Zealand team at the end of England's current tour of New Zealand to spend more time with his family, and to play for the Indian Premier League [1].

He played well in his final series, scoring 297 in six innings. In the first innings of the second test against England, he scored his 7000th run in his 110th match. In his final test at, Napier, he scored half-centuries in both innings to ensure that he finished with a Test match average of over 40 (40.06).

Records

International records

  • Most capped ODI Captain (218 matches as of April 24 2007) [6]
  • The most catches in Tests by a fielder in a calendar year with 28 in 1997 [7]

National records

  • Most Test runs and matches by a New Zealander (7172 and 111)
  • Most ODI runs and matches by a New Zealander (8007 and 279)
  • Highest Test score by a New Zealander away from home (274* in Colombo)
  • Most catches by a New Zealander in Test and ODI cricket (171 and 132)
An innings-by-innings breakdown of Fleming's Test match batting career, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line).

References

  1. ^ a b Fleming to end New Zealand career BBC News retrieved February 14 2008
  2. ^ Article regarding New Zealand Cricketers in the IPL auction Cricinfo, retrieved 25 March 2008
  3. ^ Fleming resigns as ODI captain
  4. ^ Most matches as captain - Test
  5. ^ Most catches in career - Test
  6. ^ Most matches as captain - ODI
  7. ^ Fielders Taking 15 Catches in a Calendar Year
Preceded by New Zealand national cricket captain
1996/7-2007 		Succeeded by
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