Cricket: Crowe wide of the mark says Fleming

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming today brushed off renewed claims of a power struggle between him and coach John Bracewell, saying he was happy with the team's direction on the eve of the third cricket test against Australian starting in Auckland tomorrow.

Former captain and batting great Martin Crowe laid the blame for Fleming's ordinary batting form at Bracewell's feet this week, saying the coach's all powerful role worked against the captain who operated best when he was top dog during Denis Aberhart's tenure from 2001-03.

"The trouble with him not being empowered to be the boss is he's just got too much time to think about his batting," Crowe said.

"He's blocking himself up with a lot of theories, too much work and in the end you can overdo it and overcook it."

Fleming, who will drop to his rightful place of No 4 tomorrow after scoring 36 runs from four innings as an opener, said he enjoyed working with Bracewell -- "an excellent coach" - but admitted over-analysis could be an issue.

"I'm just working extremely hard on getting my batting right and the captaincy is adding to that challenge," Fleming said.

"There's some merit in what Martin says -- you can have too much prescription but we're very aware of what the team needs at this stage, and certainly we're very flexible towards all options.

"I'm very happy about where it's at, the direction in which we're moving, and where we are at the moment -- it's just that it's all hands on deck right now."

Crowe said Fleming had played second fiddle to coaches Steve Rixon, David Trist and Bracewell, and only when Aberhart willingly took a back seat role did the captain flourish.

"He took the New Zealand side to the No 3 ranking spot in the world in test cricket and took himself to the top-10 of the world as a batsman.

"Fleming has been able to blossom since then. But it now seems to be a reverse and I think Flem is a bit muted as a result."

Thanks to Wellington's weather, New Zealand go in 0-1 down with an outside chance of squaring the series at Eden Park where rain is forecast tomorrow.

Fleming said there was an upbeat feel as the side who welcome in James Marshall who will open on debut, with his twin brother Hamish at three.

"Probably more excitement than in the previous two tests. This is a one-off opportunity for us to win a test against Australia, and to draw the series, and to finish the tour on a high.

"It's been tough playing these guys over a long period of time but when it comes down to a one-off, you fancy your chances more because of the nature of it."

Fleming has never captained a test win in 13 tests against Australia, and predicted this would be his last chance: "It's massive motivation".

In-form offspinner Paul Wiseman's inclusion for his 23rd test appears mandatory at seamer Iain O'Brien's expense on a likely dry, slow pitch, although the weather could again have a say before the team are confirmed just before tomorrow's 10.30am start.

Wiseman is bowling as well as ever and was poised to play in Wellington but the pitch was covered for two days and the moisture encouraged O'Brien's inclusion.

Australia named an unchanged side today for a third straight test, with captain Ricky Ponting saying they were already trying to fight off the distraction of the looming Ashes tour of England starting in June.

"First and foremost, it would be a nice way to finish this series if we could play the same sort of cricket we did in the first two tests," Ponting said.

"Deep down the guys have probably had one eye on the Ashes for the last few months to tell you the truth."

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (captain), James Marshall, Craig Cumming, Hamish Marshall, Lou Vincent, Nathan Astle, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Paul Wiseman, Chris Martin, Iain O'Brien.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn McGrath.

Umpires: Mark Benson (England), Rudi Koertzen (South Africa).

- NZPA