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Two of Australia's greatest captains, Ian Chappell and Mark Taylor, believe Stephen Fleming's surprisingly defensive approach undermined his captaincy of the Black Caps during the Commonwealth Bank Tri-nations one-day series.
Chappell, who recorded a win-loss ratio of 15-5 in 30 Tests as Australia skipper from 1970-1975, was happy to give New Zealand's most successful and longest-serving captain a vote of confidence. But he insisted the time has come for Fleming to revert to his attacking instincts if the Black Caps are to make any impact at next month's World Cup in the Caribbean.
"Stephen Fleming is a good captain and the right man to lead New Zealand but his captaincy is becoming a mixture of both good and bad at the moment," Chappell said.
"During the Australia versus New Zealand match at the McG last Sunday [Australia won by five wickets] Fleming went on the defensive and allowed Brad Hodge and Ricky Ponting to dominate.
"He seemed to be waiting for the Australians to make a mistake and tried to contain Hodge and Ponting instead of trying to attack them. I don't think those tactics will work against the Australians," said Chappell.
"The good aspect of Fleming's captaincy is that he has been one of the few captains to stand up to Australia in the past.
"He needs to get back to that approach if New Zealand is to have any chance of winning the World Cup."
Mark Taylor went a step further and said Fleming's captaincy style had changed under coach John Bracewell.
Taylor, who won 26 and lost 13 of his 50 tests as captain from 1994-1999, said Fleming's increasing tendency to go on the defensive could be attributed to John Bracewell's mentality as Black Caps coach.
"I have always regarded Stephen Fleming as one of the more proactive captains in world cricket and a very attack-minded captain but, in the John Bracewell era, he has become more defensive," Taylor said.
"I don't think we should be too harsh on Fleming because sometimes, when you are losing matches, it's difficult for a captain to find the right balance between defence and attack.
"Shane Bond took four wickets in New Zealand's last match against England at Brisbane but before that he didn't really look like taking wickets for most of the Commonwealth Bank series despite his hat-trick in the opening match against Australia.
"If your main strike bowler is not taking wickets, it's not easy for any captain. On the whole, Fleming is an inspirational captain."
Their comments seem close to those made earlier last week by former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, who also tacitly seemed to call for Fleming to come out from under the Bracewell shadow, by stepping clear of the "clutter of management" and seizing control of his team before it's too late.
Crowe said Fleming needed to be liberated from the management structure surrounding the present team, so that he could lead from the front at next month's tournament in the Caribbean.
"Fleming needs to get back to where he was in 2002 - when he was at the core of the entire set-up, and knew his players so intimately that he understood what was going on inside their heads," Crowe said.
"He needs the freedom to make this his team; to do whatever's required to be firing for the World Cup. That means doing things his way and empowering him with the knowledge he not only has full control of the team, but also their full support."
Crowe said an emancipated Fleming would, by definition, be closer to his players, and appreciate more keenly "which ones were there and which ones weren't" when it came to important on-field decisions.
