KEY POINTS:
At some point in the next five days Stephen Fleming will play his final test innings.
Irrespective of whether he gets the 113 runs he needs to finish with a career average of 40, his place among the most important figures in New Zealand cricket is undeniable.
His
contribution has been in three parts.
He has been among the country's most elegant batsmen, its leading test runmaker and he is still, as he puts the finishing touches to his career, the best batsman in the land. His nine test hundreds are a meagre return for his talent.
He departs at the right time, rather than with his skills diminishing. In that respect - in a country which has never been blessed with the depth of gifted players to compare with other nations - the fact he is retiring is at best unfortunate, if not faintly ridiculous.
Fleming became one of world cricket's finest captains. The great Australian Richie Benaud, himself an outstanding leader and commentator par excellence, thought so, and that'll do as a recommendation.
Fleming won 28 of his 80 tests as captain, more than twice the next best, Geoff Howarth. He became captain in 1997 aged 23 and it took time for him to grasp the intricacies of the job. His ability to sniff out opposing batsmen's weaknesses was down to attention to detail, an aspect of the job he enjoyed.
It didn't always go his way but he developed a hard, pragmatic edge to his captaincy and that made New Zealand a difficult team to beat, a combative unit capable of footing it with the best.
But the aspect of Fleming's cricket which could easily be overlooked was his fielding, primarily at first slip.
He goes into his final test with 171 catches, second only to Mark Waugh's 181. However, of all cricketers to have taken 100 or more test catches, only Australian Bob Simpson, with an average 0.94 catches per innings for his 110 catches, has a superior rate than Fleming's 0.868.
Try to remember him spilling a chance. Not easy. And that's how Fleming made it look, swallowing the ball in an unfussy manner as though it were one of cricket's simpler tasks. You don't get that good by luck.
Fleming had been eyeing a finale in England in the next couple of months, his career ideally to end in the third test at Trent Bridge, where he spent happy seasons with Nottinghamshire.
It was not to be and New Zealand's batting - with its next most senior batsman, Scott Styris, already having removed himself from test cricket - will be the poorer for it.
But Fleming has other priorities. A second child is on the way. Perspectives change.
As he put it this week: "I can believe it's nearly over, which is another good indicator that the time is right."
And the face of the New Zealand team, with young men like Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder and now Tim Southee arriving, is changing too.
No matter which direction life takes him, Fleming will leave a large footprint on New Zealand's cricket landscape.
STEPHEN FLEMING
Tests: 111 (Including today) As captain: 80
Debut: v India, Hamilton, March 1994 (16 and 92)
Innings: 187
Runs: 7047
Average: 39.81
100/50: 9/44
Catches: 171 (second all time behind Mark Waugh, 181)
ODIs: 280 As captain: 218
Debut: v India, Napier, March 1994 (90)
Innings: 269
Runs: 8037
Average: 32.4
100/50: 8/49
Catches: 133
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