Fleming's the real deal
By Jonathan Millmow
From Stuff, 20 December 2003
It takes a special player to do what Stephen Fleming
did in Hamilton yesterday.
Not so much under a cloud as a tsunami heading into
the first test against Pakistan, the New Zealand captain
made a mockery of his month out of international cricket
with a gritty unbeaten 125.
Fleming batted for all but 26 minutes of the opening
day and not once did he flinch or seem restricted in
his strokeplay due to his suspected hernia. In fact
if anyone walked away from Westpac Park with a hernia
yesterday it would have been Pakistan coach Javed Miandad.
His problems began before the toss when strike bowler
Shoaib Akhtar was ruled out with minor hamstring and
calf strains and then Miandad watched his troops turn
in an abysmal bowling and fielding effort, highlighted
by 30 no balls.
Fortunately for Pakistan some rash strokeplay in the
final session by the New Zealand middle order meant
the day finished on level terms with the home side 295-6,
after being put into bat. New Zealand began the final
session at 192-2 but they lost Scott Styris, Craig McMillan,
Chris Cairns and Jacob Oram for the addition of only
57 runs.
Fleming still rated the day as an excellent start under
new coach John Bracewell and he was delighted with his
339 minute contribution under pressure. Although he
cramped up afterward in an ice bath Fleming said the
only discomfort he felt was from a sore toe after being
hit in the nets on Thursday.
"I felt good. I was feeling pretty fresh after the
break and I'd looked at players like Steve Waugh, Brian
Lara and Martin Crowe, who have come back from breaks
very strong and I've used my break pretty well, mentally,"
Fleming said.
"I worked hard in the nets for the last three days
and what you saw today was someone who had thought a
lot about this first test innings and what I had to
do."
Fleming dominated century partnerships with Mark Richardson
(44) for the second wicket and Styris (33) for the third,
with the feature of his play being shots through the
leg side off both the back and front foot.
It used to be that Fleming would not know a century
if it hit him in the face but he has now scored four
of his six hundreds in his last 15 tests.
Fleming felt in hindsight it was a good toss to lose.
He intended bowling first but now feels any score over
350 could prove a winning one.
He also defended his middle order, who perished playing
attacking shots. McMillan had already hit two booming
sixes in the over he was dismissed by legspinner Danish
Kaneria and Cairns was loose throughout his 24 minute
stay.
"What we are doing is encouraging the likes of Craig
Mcmillan, Chris Cairns and Scott Styris to finish the
day well. Australia have led the way in terms of setting
a foundation and then allowing their strokeplayers come
in and play. We think we've got some of the best hitters
in the game, it wasn't there day today but it will be
in the future."
The biggest surprise about Pakistan's bowling effort
was the lack of rhythm of its spearhead Mohammad Sami.
He rarely troubled the batsmen and was the chief culprit
in overstepping with 15 no balls.
Abdul Razzaq also had a nightmare day with seven no
balls and a spilled catch at point when Styris was on
seven and it was left to young seamer Shabbir Ahmed
to put a break on the scoring. Playing in his fifth
test, Shabbir, who was called for chucking in his one-day
international debut, finished the day with 3-51 off
24 overs.
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