Cricket: Players' cap fits for Fleming

Stephen Fleming will help find a new coach. Photo / Getty Images

Stephen Fleming is re-establishing links with New Zealand Cricket.

It comes after the former national skipper retired from the international game in March 2008 as the country's most capped player with 111 tests, a record the joint-holder Daniel Vettori is expected to pass later this month in the West Indies.

Fleming will join the appointment panel to find coach John Wright's successor. He will be the New Zealand Cricket Players Association (NZCPA) representative. NZC chief executive David White will chair the panel which also includes director of cricket John Buchanan, NZC board member Rob Hart and High Performance Sport New Zealand chief executive Alex Baumann.

Fleming is not interested in pursuing the national coaching job despite success as coach of the Chennai Super Kings. The franchise has won the Indian Premier League twice and Champions League Twenty20 tournament once in his four-year tenure. They were runners-up in this year's IPL. Fleming is contracted to Chennai until next year.

The NZCPA has appointed Fleming because he continues to be a strong player advocate since transitioning to a coaching role. The 39-year-old has established a sound working relationship with Chennai captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who also leads India. Fleming's understood to apply more of a general manager approach to the role with several assistant coaching staff - like former New Zealand coach Steve Rixon - reporting to him in the operational structure.

NZCPA general manager Heath Mills says they're thrilled Fleming will act on their behalf. "Stephen is an outstanding communicator who has an excellent understanding of the modern playing environment and the skill sets the Black Caps need."

Likewise, White values his involvement: "He has vast experience in the contemporary game."

As CEO, White is determined to resolve the poisoned chalice of coach early in his tenure. Wright's contract finishes in the first week of August after the West Indies tour. That means since John Bracewell resigned in November 2008, New Zealand will have had three coaches and the hybrid team of performance director Roger Mortimer and captain Daniel Vettori in charge. South African mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, former Otago coach Mike Hesson, Northern Districts coach Grant Bradburn, Wellington coach Jamie Siddons, Glamorgan coach Matthew Mott, Deccan coach Darren Lehmann and even Australian batting coach Justin Langer have been whispered in cricket circles as possible contenders when applications closed on Friday.