KEY POINTS:
Stephen Fleming may end his international career much sooner than planned after being stripped of the New Zealand test captaincy.
Fleming said he was looking no further ahead than the two-match test series in South Africa in November, after which he would reassess his options.
He said from England last night that he was "incredibly disappointed" to lose the test captaincy to Daniel Vettori after 10 years in charge.
Fleming said he was told of his demotion a fortnight ago, but New Zealand Cricket announced Vettori's promotion only yesterday.
After a decade in charge, Fleming predicted some difficulties as he adjusted to playing the role of the team's senior pro.
The season ahead entails a tour to South Africa before New Zealand host inbound tours from Bangladesh and England for two and three-test series respectively.
Then follows a tour of England, where Fleming had previously thought his international test career could end.
"I'm just looking at the South African series, and then hopefully a good home series, form permitting" said Fleming, 34, who retired from one-day internationals yesterday after abdicating the one-day captaincy in April.
"The biggest challenge is going to be making the adjustment into the side, not being captain.
"There will be a period where I need to find out whether I can do that and make sure it is a positive one for the team. Otherwise I may have to look at other options.
"My biggest challenge will be to get runs and reintegrate into the team as a player. With that in front of me I'm certainly not going to look too far ahead."
Fleming had originally earmarked the third test against England, at Trent Bridge, next winter as a possible swansong. It was the home ground of Nottinghamshire, the English county he has led for three seasons, and he had considered it an appropriate venue to step aside to weigh up his options.
Now losing the captaincy has forced a major rethink.
Fleming confirmed for the first time that he had received "very attractive" offers to play in the breakaway Indian Cricket League, approaches he had turned down.
"There were a number of offers and the ICL was one that was put on the table.
"Some of the media speculation about it was completely off the mark and was very unhelpful."
Fleming said he supported NZC's stance on the league, which it will not sanction nor allow its contracted players to participate in.
"While I would have wished to remain captain of the test team I can also understand why the selectors prefer to have a single captain for the test, one-day and Twenty20 teams.
"I hold Daniel Vettori in high regard and will support him fully in his transition as test captain."
NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said Vettori's promotion to test captain was the result of the selectors looking to the future.
- NZPA
