Cricket: NZ team deserve more credit, says Fleming

Stephen Fleming

New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming believes more credit should be given to his players instead of emphasis being focused on some inept performances from the West Indies.

It appears only heavy rain here today and, if needed, for tomorrow's reserve day, will prevent New Zealand from claiming consecutive 5-0 one-day series clean sweeps at home over the West Indies.

Ahead 4-0, New Zealand have the luxury of resting key spinner Daniel Vettori, with an eye toward the first test starting on Thursday.

New Zealand have whipped the West Indies in all facets of the game in this series and Fleming preferred to concentrate on their successes as opposed to the failings of the tourists when asked how much their game had deteriorated over the past few seasons.

"I would like to look at the increase in our performances," he said.

"I think it's very easy to criticise a side for what they're lacking and certainly they're going through a period where they're rebuilding and with a new coaching staff.

"There's a lot of talent in the side. There's always been talent, and it's just a case of working harmoniously into some sort of a team pattern, but we've played very good cricket to keep them down and out."

The following statistic is enough for any West Indies fan to suffer palpitations. They have lost 19 of their last completed 21 one-dayers and test success has been sparse as well, with 12 losses from their last 15 tests.

It's the West Indies' worst ever one-day losing streak and Fleming knew the New Zealanders had to exploit it ruthlessly to gain a significant psychological edge ahead of the three-test series.

"I don't think they're in a great space. They can't be when your 4-0 down.

"We haven't gone as far as saying they're down and out and broken, but we want to keep the foot on the throat," Fleming said.

"We're really occupied by playing good cricket and producing a complete performance.

"The last game (a 91-run win in Napier on Wednesday) was pretty complete. A good performance tomorrow and we go into the test series with a lot of confidence," he said yesterday.

Fleming adopted a diplomatic tone when cautioning against completely writing off the West Indies.

"Often when you've been hurt in one form of the game you look forward to the other, so I'm sure their test motivation will be very high when that comes around.

"I'm pretty sure they'll want to put one (a good result) on the board tomorrow."

One impressive feature of the Black Caps' performances in this series has been their ability to battle out of tough situations on the two occasions the West Indies have had them under pressure.

The first was the second match in Queenstown when they recovered from 13 for four to win by three wickets.

The third match in Christchurch saw the West Indies cruising at the halfway point in pursuit of New Zealand's 276, but tight bowling and a spectacular Nathan Astle catch delivered a 21-run win.

"It just happens when you're playing good cricket," Fleming said.

"It doesn't matter how close they get, you always feel you're going to get across the line and the opposite happens when you're losing a lot of the games.

"It's happened a few times in this series where they've been in a position of strength and we've had the state of mind to come back.

"They have also helped by capitulating and believing they're not quite good enough to get across the line and that's been a big part of this series I believe."

The New Zealand squad for the first test will be named tomorrow.

Today's match starts at 2pm (local time).

New Zealand: (from) Stephen Fleming (captain), Lou Vincent, Nathan Astle, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Hamish Marshall, Peter Fulton, Brendon McCullum, James Franklin, Kyle Mills, Shane Bond, Jeetan Patel.

West Indies: (from) Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Wavell Hinds, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Ian Bradshaw, Fidel Edwards, Deighton Butler, Rawl Lewis.

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia), Tony Hill (New Zealand).
Third umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand).

- NZPA