Fleming century highlight for tour opener
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming finally showed Australian cricket fans he could build an innings of substance today when he crashed a fine century for the Black Caps in their opening tour match against the Queensland Academy of Sport in Brisbane.
Michael Crutcher
16-Oct-2001
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming finally showed Australian cricket fans he could build an innings of substance today when he crashed a fine century for the Black Caps in their opening tour match against the Queensland Academy of Sport in Brisbane.
Fleming wasn't able to show too many fans - just the 50 or so at Allan Border Field - but he did prove his class ahead of next month's Test series against Australia.
He finished the first of the four days unbeaten on 133, steering the Black Caps to a competitive 8-297 after their prospects looked much bleaker at 4-83.
Fleming has built a reputation as a century teaser after scoring 29 half-centuries and just two hundreds in his 60 Tests, but he was in control today against a QAS attack led by much-hyped teenager Mitchell Johnson (2-78).
Fleming lofted Johnson over the deep cover boundary in one of the shots of the day while also scoring heavily off his pads, displaying the benefit from his English summer with Middlesex.
The Black Caps arrived in Brisbane on Saturday with Fleming declaring New Zealand's hopes of beating Australia rested heavily with the performances of its senior players.
The 28-year-old led by example today while opener Mark Richardson (40), Craig McMillan (33) and Adam Parore (22) lent solid support.
Fleming wants to make a point in the four tour matches before the first Test on November 8, insisting he doesn't want to treat the low-key games solely as
warm-ups.
He proved that today with 102 runs in boundaries during his 253 minutes at the crease, punishing a young attack which was on top early.
While Richardson looked promising, Matthew Bell (eight) and Mathew Sinclair (17) did not look comfortable and Nathan Astle had not scored when he edged
Damien Mackenzie (2-29) behind.
Mackenzie was the pick of the bowlers while Johnson struggled to find the line and length to justify the huge wraps placed on him before his 20th birthday.