KEY POINTS:
This has been a great season for knuckle-headed, pie-in-the sky nonsense. If it's not Trevor Mallard and his fantastic theory on floating stadiums it's John Bracewell's Operation Screwloose, or the claptrap fed to us about Nathan Astle's shock retirement.
Now it seems we have to negotiate a wave
of calls for Stephen Fleming to be axed as captain - not because his decision-making skills have been lacking, but because he hasn't been in great batting form and his team have been losing.
Never mind the fact that he's proved himself over time as the team's best batsman, that he's scored more runs than any other New Zealander, including seven centuries and 106 in his most recent innings.
Fleming's been searching for timing and balance all summer after Bracewell placed him on paternity leave last month, and wasn't happy with the tempo of his century at the Gabba, when he struggled to keep up with the run-rate.
But there's never been any doubt about his place in the side as a batsman, or the support that he shares from the balance of the squad and the management team.
People will point excitedly at Fleming's 2-win/19-loss effort against Australia and his 4/8 record this summer, as if to suggest he should personally bear the responsibility for the slump. The reality is that he can't bat or bowl for his teammates.
If anyone should be carrying the can for the season so far it's that hyper-analytical coach of his and his woolly-headed ideas on rotation, rest and recuperation.
In fact, if you studied Fleming's leadership effort during the tri-series, you could make a case that he's never been quite so daring or spontaneous; starting with his field placements for key opposition batsmen, his bowling combinations and his manipulation of the power-plays.
His placement of a short-cover at Hobart paid a big dividend in the shape of Ricky Ponting's wicket, and an even more unorthodox placement for the left-handed Matthew Hayden at Sydney - where he gambled on leaving square-leg open - brought more success.
In the same game Fleming responded to Australia's initial onslaught by delaying the final powerplay until the 32nd over, and was similarly tactical at Perth - forcing the Australians to change their game by putting off the final set of fielding restrictions until the 20th.
He was also behind the move to play two spinners on four occasions, an almost unheard of risk in Australian conditions, and especially at Perth where the pitch has traditionally favoured either the pace bowlers or the batsmen.
People have made much of the brilliant captaincy of Michael Vaughan at Brisbane, where England ended New Zealand's last chance of qualifying for the finals after mounting an inspired counter-attack in the last quarter of the game.
But the truth is that Vaughan's much-acclaimed performance was almost a carbon-copy of Fleming's effort during the first 50 overs. Scott Styris and Paul Collingwood were used in identical fashion, as were Daniel Vettori and Monty Panesar; Shane Bond was brought back at about the 38-over mark for a short stint, and so was Andrew Flintoff.
The only difference was the quality of each side's batting, and the support provided for man-of-the-match Collingwood as he led England through to 270.
If Fleming had found an ally as staunch as Andrew Strauss during the chase, it's a fair bet that New Zealand - rather than England - would have been playing Australia at Melbourne last night, and we wouldn't be having this discussion.
But, because he wasn't able to emulate his previous six match-winning centuries on that one occasion, some people seem to be hell-bent on washing their hands of him. Talk about throwing out the baby with the bath water.