Fleming to retire after England series

HAMILTON—Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s most-capped player, has announced he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the upcoming home series against England. Fleming said it was better for his family if he quit the game ahead of the return tour of England in May and June.
“I always indicated that I was likely to retire from international cricket at some point in the near future and the time is right for me and my family to do that now,” Fleming said. “Retiring before the tour to England will allow me to be with [my wife] Kelly for the birth of our second child.”
Fleming, 34, will take part in the Indian Premier League, however, and said it was a good way to stay involved in the sport. “It is an exciting opportunity and one that I will be pursuing with the full support of New Zealand Cricket,” he said. “The IPL only takes a short amount of my time each year, and allows me to continue pursuing my new endeavours outside of the game.”
One of those aims is to start his own marketing, media and sports management business but NZC’s chief executive Justin Vaughan hopes Fleming will play a part in the country’s cricketing future. “Stephen’s presence and leadership qualities had a tremendous impact on the team and he will be missed by New Zealand Cricket and the Black Caps,” Vaughan said. “He has made a huge contribution to cricket in New Zealand and I sincerely wish him all the best. I’m sure we have not seen the last of him and we are working to ensure that he has a role within cricket in New Zealand in the future.”
Fleming departs with a sackful of New Zealand Test records. No New Zealander has played as many Tests (108), scored as many runs (6875), taken as many catches (166), captained as many games (80), or led as many wins (28) as Fleming.
Appointed at 23, he was the country’s youngest Test skipper and only Allan Border, who led Australia through 93 Tests, guided his team in more games. When Fleming retired from one-day international cricket last September he left with a similar bunch of records. At the same time as Fleming quit ODIs New Zealand handed the Test captaincy to Daniel Vettori, which disappointed Fleming, who wanted to see if separate captains could help New Zealand’s consistency.
“I felt in New Zealand cricket whenever our one-day cricket was going well our Test cricket suffered and vice-versa,” he said. “One of the ways to combat that was to step aside as one-day captain. I would have liked the opportunity to be working away at our Test game, to be exploring how we could beat England in the Tests.” After the powers that be decided against splitting the captaincy, Fleming admitted he had contemplated his future and seriously considered a substantial offer from the Indian Cricket League. It became clear his time at the top level was drawing to a close.
The only question was when in 2008 he would end his career. Would it be before the home series against England, after it, or following the return tour of England in New Zealand’s winter? Fleming, a man who avoids fanfare where possible, has opted for three final Tests at home with his last set to start in Napier on March 22.
That will give local fans an opportunity to farewell a man who has defined New Zealand cricket for more than a decade. When he made his Test debut in 1993-94 it was immediately apparent the selectors had found an important player for the future success of the side. In a team led by Ken Rutherford against India in Hamilton, Fleming made 92 in his opening Test, and he followed it just days later with 90 in his ODI debut in Napier.
But triple-figures never quite agreed with Fleming, who ended up with nine centuries and 43 half-centuries in accumulating a Test average of 39.73. It took him 23 Tests to make his first hundred and a month later he was thrust into the captaincy when Lee Germon was unavailable for against England due to a groin injury.—Agencies