Cricket: Flem fights demons

It is unlikely that Stephen Fleming has ever come to the crease facing such scorn from a 'home' crowd.

If the near-empty Eden Park cavern carried every comment to the middle, his ears would have been burning by the time he took guard and faced his nemesis Glenn McGrath. It wasn't the only stinging rebuke of the day either, with Australian coach John Buchanan launching a broadside at the New Zealand batting approach.

At 53-2 on the first morning of the final test that New Zealand had to win to square the series, the Black Caps needed a captain's knock. As importantly, the captain needed a captain's knock. He delivered almost enough, his 65 helping New Zealand to an awkward 199-5 after a day of trench warfare when the Black Caps were so intent on fighting for the inches, they forgot about the miles they'll have to cover to win the battle.

Buchanan knew as much, too, crediting the moribund fifth wicket partnership of 11 in 58 balls between Nathan Astle and Lou Vincent as tipping the match in Australia's favour.

"We've certainly got our noses in front," he said. "I thought the way New Zealand had laid a platform through Fleming and Marshall (squared) that there was an opportunity for them to get on with the game. That wasn't the case due to some fine bowling and probably a lack of New Zealand aggression."

While Buchanan praised some "incredible" spells from his bowlers, there was no doubt he was surprised by New Zealand's safety-first approach.

"I was surprised at the end. I thought the partnership of 11 in 58 balls between Vincent and Astle was due to good bowling but they didn't seem to be able to come up with any strategy to counter that. Consequently, it's one thing when you lose wickets to occupy the crease but you've got to be able to keep that scoreboard ticking over," Buchanan said.

But all eyes were fixed on the battle between Fleming and McGrath. It hasn't been much of a battle lately but, yesterday at least, Fleming attempted to restore parity.

McGrath nearly got him early with a beautifully directed yorker. He knew it. Fleming knew it. The New Zealand captain smiled but only on the outside. Fleming was battling more than McGrath and a round red object prone to contradicting the laws of physics.

The toughest demons he faced were the ones between his ears, asking him after five test failures in a row against Australia whether he could score against them.

At 32, after he had struck Shane Warne sweetly into the South Stand, Fleming faced McGrath for 33 balls spread out over 50 minutes without scoring a run. Following that particular spell, McGrath had the scarcely believable figures of 1-9 from 17 overs.

The grinding continued towards 50, three leg byes giving the by now sympathetic crowd cause for premature celebration. When he got there - 146 balls after he started - there was an almost apologetic raise of the bat. On 54 he was a camera frame from being run out by an increasingly frustrated Warne. Two boundaries in the next over off Michael Kasprowicz lightened the load slightly but it was a false dawn - the same bowler getting him to inside edge onto his stumps.

New Zealand gave some indication that their intention to chase victory aggressively was more than rhetoric by picking off-spinner Paul Wiseman instead of Iain O'Brien. Fleming won the toss but Craig Cumming left early, a victim of Jeremy Lloyd carrying on the English tradition of giving batsmen out lbw for not playing a shot regardless of whether the ball would have hit. The Marshalls batted brightly before Fleming and Hamish put down anchor.

The problem was when they left, no one reeled the anchor in and got the innings moving. Even Astle became a shipwreck, his unbeaten seven coming from 41 balls.

Scoreboard

Scoreboard at stumps on the first day of the third cricket test between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park yesterday:

New Zealand

First innings

C Cumming lbw b Gillespie 5J Marshall c Hayden b McGrath 29H Marshall c Ponting b Warne 76S Fleming b Kasprowicz 65N Astle not out 7L Vincent b Gillespie 2B McCullum not out 1Extras (4b, 8lb, 2nb) 14--Total (for 5 wkts, 90 overs) 199Fall: 15 (Cumming), 53 (J Marshall), 179 (H Marshall), 183 (Fleming), 194 (Vincent).

Bowling: G McGrath 24-17-20-1, J Gillespie 20-7-50-2, M Kasprowicz 23-6-57-1 (1nb), S Warne 19-4-50-1 (1nb), R Ponting 4-1-10-0.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY