Cricket: Fleming looks for silver lining

Stephen Fleming

As if Stephen Fleming doesn't already have a few good reasons for wanting to score heavily against Australia, this week's third and final test match will provide him with some extra motivation.

The under-fire New Zealand skipper was yesterday changed from makeshift opener to the side's No 4 batsman for the test, a move that followed four cheap dismissals in the previous two matches.

Trapped lbw on each occasion, his latest failure came after some exhaustive trouble-shooting at net practice, and at a time when his re-jigged technical game was looking solid and productive.

But for all his disappointments, Fleming said this week that he was feeling positive and slightly nostalgic about the final test match, as it would probably be the last time he crossed swords with them in the test arena.

"Looking at the itinerary, it looks like that," said Fleming. "I'll certainly be treating it as another chance against Australia, but I'll also have in the back of my mind that it's possibly the last.

"It won't add or take anything away from it - but it's a point of interest."

Fleming, who turns 32 on April 1, has often struggled against Australia's world-class bowling attack, but seemed to have turned the corner at the start of the 2001-02 summer, when he began reconstructing his technique with the help of technical adviser Ashley Ross.

The early omens were positive: the left-hander broke his century drought at Perth, and then carried on to score a highly influential 130 at Bridgetown, a career best 274 in Colombo, a 192 at home against Pakistan, and 117 in the third test at Nottingham.

He was still carving out runs at will near the end of last year, scoring a double-century against Bangladesh, in the process becoming New Zealand's highest run-scorer in test cricket.

However, the five consecutive test matches against Australia this summer have rather burst his bubble, resulting in his career average dropping a couple of percentage points to 38.50 - and some chronic indecision.

"They've got me at a time when I've had a few doubts," he said. "They bowled well to me through the ODI series, and when things didn't go well I started to go searching as a batsman. I've just got to get that certainty back and have that no-fear attitude."

He said his faith remained in his technical game; that he was sure he just needed to put the last piece of the puzzle into place and he would overcome his recent misfortune.

"There's obvious anxiety, we're under the pump and I want to be the guy who does the work at the top," he said."It's a been a while since I've had an innings of substance.

"When you're in-form you're making runs and are spending time in the middle and there's no doubts. But when you're out of form you're doing a lot of watching and contemplating and thinking ... and you've got to make sure you're certain about what you're working on."

Fleming conceded that the pressure was intense after the chain of low scores, but said he was determined to look on the bright side.

While preferring different circumstances than those at present, he said there was no greater challenge than responding to the sort of crisis apparent at the moment, when he was scoring few runs, was not doing his job and the team was suffering.

"We still have a chance to share the series and I guess that's what you cling on to," he said. "We're not avoiding the point that we were again outplayed and were staring down the barrel [at Wellington], but sometimes you need opportunities like this."

His nemesis, Glenn McGrath, said yesterday that he was delighted with his success so far against the New Zealand skipper, and particularly the way his plan of attack against Fleming worked so well in the second innings at Wellington.

Fleming fell lbw to Warne in the first innings of the first test at Christchurch, but was then tortured by McGrath in his next three outings, including a fourth ball dismissal at the Basin Reserve on Monday.

"To me it means our game plan has been successful, and that we've put enough pressure on to make them change theirs," said McGrath.

"He [Fleming] was one of the two guys I targeted early on, and to be successful against him is another tick in the success column," said McGrath.