KEY POINTS:
Stephen Fleming is standing firm against criticism of his captaincy, saying he accepts he'll be a target whenever New Zealand lose.
The veteran New Zealand skipper was the subject of a vigorous debate this week after his side's early elimination from the tri-series with Australia and England and what many critics saw as a match-losing century at the Gabba.
At the peak of the row, Fleming's former teammate Adam Parore twice called on the selectors to defrock their captain before the World Cup, on the basis of his recent and overall record.
Fleming said this week that, as the captain of a team that had underperformed, he was resigned to the "inevitable flak" that followed.
But he believed a lot of the comment had been reactionary, and offered with the benefit of hindsight.
"It's a fickle business," he said. "I reckon there have been times when I've captained the side very poorly, but we've won and nothing's been said.
"On the other hand, there's been times when I've been at my best and we've lost, and it snowballs into a huge problem.
"People see it differently and I'm well aware of that."
Captain since 1997, when he took over from Lee Germon, Fleming advocates a leadership pool, and as a result has developed some capable lieutenants in Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, and Brendon McCullum.
But he accepted that, when someone had been in the job for as long as he had, there would sometimes be lively debate and discussion over their merits and use-by date, particularly after a losing performance.
"It's just part and parcel of being a captain when you're not performing well," he said.
"When you lose, your captaincy and decision-making get torn apart. I accept that.
"Of course I'd do things differently, with the help of hindsight. But you don't get that at the time. I think my decision-making is very strong right now, but the team's win-loss ratio is poor and no one's happy with that - myself included."
Fleming said he was particularly surprised to see his post-match comments from Brisbane twisted around to suggest he wasn't particularly bothered about losing.
"I wasn't trying to say everything's okay," he said. "Our win-loss ratio is poor - I acknowledge that.
"I'm not trying to offer excuses, as I was accused of earlier in the week. I'm simply attempting to offer explanations, reasons for not getting it right.
"We're certainly not happy with being on the wrong side of things."
But that didn't mean he was lacking the passion or desire to turn things around in time for the World Cup or beyond.
"I love the job. I love doing it; I love being with the team. What gets tiring is when you know you've got to cop it - that can be a little draining.
"But once you get back into the team, you realise the leadership and decision-making are a massive part of your game. You want to do itwell."
As for his future after the World Cup, Fleming said that was a question for people such as the coach and selectors. He wasn't in control of his position in the team, and had to go with the flow like everyone else.
"It's not my say," he said. "If the World Cup doesn't go well, the selectors may want to change tack. I'm not in a position to name my tenure; I'm realistic enough to know that it's out of my hands.
"If I'm batting well, captaining well and playing well, I'd love to have the opportunity of saying, that's enough. But we've got to be winning. If we're losing it's quite right that my position gets debated."
