A distinguished leader

When Stephen Fleming became the youngest captain of New Zealand at 23 years and 320 days because Lee Germon had injured his groin ahead of the Christchurch Test against England in February 1997, he could have scarcely imagined that nine years later, he would be still leading New Zealand in his 100th Test.

In sheer number of Tests as captain, Fleming's 75 is second only to Allan Border's 93. Of his other contemporaries, Graeme Smith is closest with 37 Tests. Fleming's streak of 60 Tests as captain since the Birmingham Test in July 1999 is the second-longest consecutive streak for a captain. Border again holds pride of place with all his 93 Tests as leader occurring without interruption. The following table lists the highest percentages of matches as captain for players.

Fleming is by far New Zealand's most experienced and successful captain. His win-loss record is 27-24 with 24 draws. John Reid and Geoff Howarth are second and third in terms of experience with 34 and 30 Tests respectively.

As a batsman, Fleming hasn't turned many heads. Although he has 6194 Test runs - the most by a New Zealand batsman - he averages only 39.20. Because conditions in New Zealand are quite heavily tilted in the bowler's favour, Fleming's away performances overshadow his exploits at home. He averages 65.45 in Asia and his record in Sri Lanka - 733 runs, the most for a visiting batsman, at an average of 104.71 - is second only to Sachin Tendulkar.

The difference in Fleming's record in matches won and lost is startling. In matches New Zealand have lost, he averages just 29.11 with one hundred. His average in wins is 52.47 and in drawn Tests it is 43.59.