The 2007 cricket World Cup signalled the end of another era when Stephen Fleming
stepped down as New Zealand's one-day captain.
The elegant southpaw announced his decision after the 81-run
defeat in the semi-final against Sri Lanka on Tuesday and said he took
the step in a bid to provide "fresh energy" to himself as a batsman.
The stylish left-hander said he had arrived at his future course of action
quite some time ago.
"I had made up my mind long time ago though New Zealand
Cricket (NZC) wasn't privy to it as I didn't want to hamper the preparations
for the World Cup," Fleming, who was largely acclaimed as the most
cerebral of contemporary captains, said.
In his over 10 years in charge of Kiwi fortunes, he led in 217 matches with
a 98-106 win-loss record.
He wanted to continue as a one-day batsman as well as be the Test captain,
"if afforded the opportunity."
"I am 34 and now want to concentrate on my batting and
stack up some good individual performances. It's time for some fresh mind to
come in and take New Zealand cricket to the next level."
Fleming did not see any conflict in New Zealand having separate
captains in Tests and one-dayers as he felt with "some fine tuning and
management," it could deliver the goods.
He dropped a word in favour of left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori,
vice-captain for sometime, but believed "NZC will take stock of the situation
and decide upon the course of action which is best for our cricket."
Fleming, who has played 279 one-day internationals so far,
making 8037 runs at an average of 32.41 with 49 fifties and eight hundreds,
reflected on his legacy saying he was someone who perhaps "added subtlety
in team's performance though it's not as much reflected in results."
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