By RICHARD BOOCK
Stephen Fleming has lifted himself to second place on New Zealand's list of test run-scorers, and seems set to become the country's most prolific batsman before the end of the year.
Among all the doom and gloom over New Zealand's 3-0 series loss in England, Fleming's milestone appeared to
pass unnoticed at Trent Bridge, where his second innings effort of 45 carried him past John Wright's mark of 5334 - albeit by a solitary run.
Fleming has now scored 5335 runs and needs only 109 to draw level with Martin Crowe, who has 5444 runs.
Unless injury or a frightful form-reversal intervene, Fleming should make the record his own in October, when New Zealand are due to tour Bangladesh. A test series in Australia will follow.
A one-time enigma in the New Zealand side on account of his lack of centuries, Fleming rebuilt his technique in 2001 with the help of New Zealand Cricket technical adviser Ash Ross, and started to turn the corner almost immediately.
His 105 at Perth ended a 3 1/2-year wait for his third test century, and he followed that up soon after with 130 at Bridgetown, 274 not out at Colombo, 192 at Hamilton last summer and 117 in the second test at Headingley.
Between the century at Perth and the end of the series against England, he scored 1611 test runs at 42.39, including a heart-warming five hundreds and four half-centuries.
In terms of rivalry, Fleming has few concerns, to the extent that he could probably take a year or two off and still find himself comfortably ahead of his best-performed team-mates.
The closest present player is Nathan Astle, sixth on the list with 3730 runs.
The top 10 New Zealanders and their test runs
Martin Crowe 5444
Stephen Fleming 5335
John Wright 5334
Nathan Astle 3730
Bevan Congdon 3448
John R Reid 3428
Chris Cairns 3320
Richard Hadlee 3124
Craig McMillan 3046
Glenn Turner 2991
