Cricket: Fleming likely to return to opening role

New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming is a front-runner to open the test team's batting.

Having already made a successful fist of the position in 2003-04, Fleming is being viewed as one of the safest options to fill the vacancy created by Mark Richardson's retirement.

With Australia the next team on New Zealand's test radar, coach John Bracewell is determined to avoid throwing an unprepared rookie in against the strongest pace attack in the world.

The contenders most talked about for the position so far have been Michael Papps and rising star Jamie How, with Mathew Sinclair almost retaining the other opening berth by default.

However, with Papps having yet to prove himself in the five-day arena, and How still untried at test level, Bracewell conceded yesterday that he was prepared to perform an about-face on Fleming's role, if needed.

"It may well be that the best option for the team is to have Stephen opening again, and if that's the case then I'd have no qualms about changing it around," said Bracewell.

"I guess the main issue is whether it's wise to be throwing a rookie or a relatively unproven opener in against new-ball bowlers such as Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee."

Fleming has opened in four tests for New Zealand, and has an average of 56.00 after posting a century against England at Nottingham and an unbeaten 69 against Sri Lanka at Colombo.

However, Bracewell opted to move his captain down to No 3 at the end of the England tour, reasoning that his patience and composure were needed more in the middle-order than at the top.

At the time, Bracewell argued that opening with Richardson and Fleming was a bit like placing all his eggs in one basket, as the rest of the top-order were naturally-aggressive shot-makers, who by definition were less reliable.

"All situations change, and Mark Richardson's retirement will definitely mean a reassessment," he said. "I haven't had a chance to talk with anyone about it yet, but I'd imagine that we may have to consider different priorities on this occasion, and Flem might come right back into calculations."