Cricket: Times are changing

Stephen Fleming

It pains Stephen Fleming to admit it but the much-maligned supersub rule could end up being a godsend for New Zealand when they meet the West Indies.

Shorn of its allround strength with the retirement of Chris Cairns and the injuries to Jacob Oram and Andre Adams, Fleming admitted he would have to look closely at how to manipulate the sub to compensate.

"I've tended to look at it [the supersub rule] in such a negative light. I felt it was making our side weaker," he said, referring to the fact that other teams were able to combine two players to give them what New Zealand had in one with Cairns and Oram.

"But now we're in a situation where our allrounder stocks are low we've got to take another look at it and make sure we can get the best out of it. Win the toss and then we can make up some lost ground from not having our allrounders by playing that extra player." But before you think Fleming, one of the most trenchant critics of the new rule, has done a volte-face of epic proportions, he still believes the rule stinks.

"I still think it's a flawed rule, as I'm pretty sure most people do."

Fleming is entering the series, which starts with a Twenty20 match at Eden Park on Thursday, following a summer of personal discovery, but very little international cricket.

Following the tour to South Africa in November, Fleming had a non-cancerous tumour cut out of his neck that caused him to miss the first two matches of the Chappell-Hadlee. Then, when Sri Lanka arrived, so did his first child, meaning he returned for the last two matches of that series only.

"It's very disjointed and something I've found very hard to deal with when you've been such a constant. With the captaincy side of it, it's quite hard to join a project halfway through, when guys are into it and know what they're doing. I guess I'm still learning some things, even after nine years of captaincy."

Aside from fatherhood, the other major change Fleming has had to get used to is the feeling he is presiding over a changing of the guard.

Men he has gone into battle with since virtually the start of his career are either no longer there or no longer guaranteed to be there. Chris Cairns has retired; Craig McMillan has been dropped; there seems no way back at this stage for Chris Harris; and Nathan Astle learned the hard way that his place in the team is open for question when he was dropped and recalled and dropped and recalled against Sri Lanka.

"It is a little bit like that. The dynamic's definitely changed and that's got us all on guard, right from the top down. The selectors want results and performances. You have now got that competitive environment which a lot of people, especially outside of the team, have been crying out for for quite a while. There's good competition there. It keeps me honest in terms of leadership and captaincy style. It's about using new players, getting new ideas and staying up to date with what's going on. It's about using Dan [Vettori] a lot more, who's stepped into captaincy fantastically well.

"There's still a lot of players that have played 50 to 100 games, which is a lot, but we're certainly losing a few of the old hands."

Inexperienced or not, New Zealand will still be expected to cast aside the West Indies with a minimum of fuss, particularly as the visitors are without Brian Lara for the one-dayers.

Fleming, as he would do, urged caution.

"I'm always guarded about teams touring over here, especially the West Indies. They've still got the swagger, they still believe, and they can be very dangerous. Brian Lara's not here for the one-dayers and obviously that helps our cause but they've got a lot of good players. They competed pretty well in Australia before Christmas with a young side - Dwayne Bravo in particular had a very good series."

The admiration, if you could call it that, is unlikely to be mutual.

Fleming has looked on with some bemusement at some of the comments emanating from the West Indian camp.

"I don't think they think too much of our cricket from the comments that have come out," Fleming said. "I guess they don't see too much of us on TV. It always seems to be the case with teams that tour here - they don't really rate us... we've got to prove to them we're a pretty good side at home."

If there's a pressure point on this New Zealand team, it's a bowling attack that looks short on firepower.

"We've still got Shane Bond and Vettori. When we've lost those guys in the past it's been hard. I guess we're all concerned and a little worried that the injuries are hitting us too hard in the bowling ranks. I'm not sure we're doing things right but, then again, I can't say where we're going wrong. We continually get hit by these injury issues but I know New Zealand Cricket is working extremely hard on it."

WI LOWDOWN

Three to watch

Chris Gayle

Super-cool opening bat with a test triple century to his name. Left the tour of Australia earlier this season with an irregular heartbeat which surprised those who felt the man was so laid out he barely had a heartbeat. Hits the ball very hard but has attracted criticism for not making the most of his talents.

Fidel Edwards

The Bajan had an extraordinary start to his international career after he was spotted in the nets by Brian Lara and called into the test team after just one match for Barbados. He took five wickets and has now taken 53 test wickets in 20 tests at an inflated average of 45. He's a round-arm slinger, always fun to watch, who has a bit about him. If he gets one or two he could get on a roll.

Brian Lara

If you need a reason to watch Lara then you're probably reading the wrong page. The fact he's not here for the ODIs has taken a lot of gloss of that series but test cricket is always the stage upon which Lara has performed at his magical best. See it for yourselves.

SCHEDULE

Feb 16: Twenty20, Eden Park
Feb 18: 1st ODI, Cake Tin
Feb 22: 2nd ODI, Queenstown Events Centre
Feb 25: 3rd ODI, Jade Stadium
Mar 1: 4th ODI, McLean Park
Mar 4: 5th ODI, Eden Park
Mar 9-13: 1st test, Eden Park
Mar 17-21: 2nd test, Basin Reserve
Mar 25-29: 3rd test, McLean Park

SQUAD

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Runako Morton, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Jerome Taylor, Ian Bradshaw, Rawl Lewis, Fidel Edwards, Deighton Butler, Wavell Hinds.

Brian Lara, Daren Powell and Devon Smith will join the squad for the test series with Butler and Hinds returning home.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY