Stephen Paul Fleming (born 1 April 1973) is a New Zealand cricket coach and former captain of the

New Zealand national cricket team The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Named the Black Caps, they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 ...

, who is the current head coach of

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

team

Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by India ...

. He is considered one of the greatest batsmen for the New Zealand national cricket team. Known for his astute tactical abilities, he is New Zealand's second-most capped er with 111 appearances. He is also the team's longest-serving and most successful captain, having led the side to 28 victories and having won Test series against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. He is the winning captain of the

2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy The 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy was a One Day International cricket tournament held in Kenya (which helped to increase the popularity of cricket in Kenya). New Zealand were crowned champions and cashed the winner's cheque of US$250 000. It was their ...

, which is New Zealand's only ICC trophy till date in the ODI format. Fleming captained New Zealand in the historic first

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are th ...

of the world, which was played against Australia in 2005. He retired from international cricket on 26 March 2008. Fleming played in the 2008 Indian Premier League for the

after being signed for US$350,000 and became the team's coach from 2009. In February 2015 he was signed as coach of the Melbourne Stars of the

Big Bash League The Big Bash League (known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, often abbreviated to BBL or Big Bash) is an Australian professional club Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. The Big Bash Le ...

. On 19 January 2018 he resumed his duties as head coach of the

in 2018 Indian Premier League season again, after the team was barred from playing in the tournament for two seasons. He coached the Rising Pune Supergiant during this time.He is appointed as the head coach of Joburg super kings in 2022 for the SA20 league.He is one of the best coaches in the IPL so far.

Personal life

Fleming is the son of Pauline Fleming and Gary Kirk. Pauline raised him as a single mother, and he did not meet his father until he was 16, although Kirk had always maintained a keen interest in his son's progress. Both Kirk and Fleming played senior rugby and captained Cashmere High's first XV. On 9 May 2007, Fleming married his long-term partner Kelly Payne in a ceremony held in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

. The couple had a daughter, born in 2006, and a son, in 2008. He had to return to New Zealand just before the semifinals of the IPL tournament for the birth of his second child. Fleming was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have re ...

, for services to cricket, in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Domestic career

Fleming has played county cricket in England for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

. He captained Nottinghamshire to

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It b ...

victory in 2005, their first Championship title in 18 years. There was speculation in 2007 that he might join the controversial Indian

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...

league, the Indian Cricket League. However it turned out to be unfounded and he later joined the 'official' Indian Twenty20 league, the

, and played for the

in the league's initial incarnation.

International career

A left-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

, Fleming made his Test debut in March 1994 against

winning the Man of the Match award on debut after scoring 92. In 1995 he survived controversy when he was caught and admitted to smoking

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various t ...

with teammates

Matthew Hart Matthew Norman Hart (born 16 May 1972) is a former New Zealand cricketer. Hart, a left-arm orthodox spinner, played in 14 Tests between 1994 and 1996, claiming 29 wickets including one five-wicket haul against South Africa. He also appeared i ...

and

Dion Nash Dion Joseph Nash (born 20 November 1971) is a New Zealand entrepreneur and former cricketer. He played for the New Zealand cricket team, captaining the team in 1999 with the injury of regular captain Stephen Fleming. Nash was a right-arm fast m ...

while on tour at their hotel. In England's tour of New Zealand in 1996–97 he scored his maiden Test century in the First Test at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. In the Third Test of the tour he took over the captaincy from Lee Germon becoming New Zealand's youngest captain at 23 years and 321 days.

Captaincy

He was particularly noted for his captaincy, having been praised from the likes of Shane Warne as the "best captain in world cricket" and most recently,

Graeme Swann Graeme Peter Swann (born 24 March 1979) is an English former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Born in Northampton, he attended Sponne School in Towcester, Northamptonshire. He was primarily a right-arm off-spinner, and also ...

who said that Fleming is one of the two true leaders that he's ever seen, alongside

Andrew Strauss Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex, and captained the Englan ...

. Fleming became New Zealand's most successful captain in September 2000 with a victory over

. This was the 12th win under his captaincy overtaking

Geoff Howarth Geoffrey Philip Howarth (born 29 March 1951) is a former New Zealand cricketer and former captain, who remains the only New Zealand captain to have positive win–loss records in both Test cricket and ODI cricket. He was the third most success ...

. Fleming was regarded by some as an underperformer with the bat, with one of the worst 50 to 100 conversion ratios in world cricket. However, since the 2003 tour of Sri Lanka, Fleming started to gain form, with 274 not out against Sri Lanka – when he declared rather than staying to reach 300 which would have been a record in New Zealand cricket history. Arguably Fleming's best ODI innings was his unbeaten 134 to help New Zealand beat hosts

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in the

2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the f ...

. Chasing a rain adjusted target of 229 off 39 overs, Fleming hit 134 off just 132 deliveries as New Zealand cruised to a 9-wicket victory over a team they had struggled against in the past. Stephen Fleming captain

In the second Test between New Zealand and

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region New Zealand * Newlands, Wellington, a suburb of Wellington South Africa * Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town * Newlands, Johannesbu ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in April 2006, Fleming scored his 3rd Test double-century and became the first New Zealander to achieve this feat. Fleming scored 262 as he and

teammate James Franklin put 256 runs for the 8th wicket, the highest partnership to date in Tests between New Zealand and South Africa. It is also a New Zealand record for the 8th wicket against any country. On 25 October 2006, Fleming captained his country for the 194th time in an ODI – a world record, overtaking

Arjuna Ranatunga Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga ( si, අර්ජුන රණතුංග; ta, அர்ஜூன ரணதுங்க; born 1 December 1963), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and politician, who was the 1996 Cricket World Cup winning capta ...

. He played well throughout the 2007 World Cup scoring 353 runs at an average of 39.22 and was New Zealand's second highest run scorer in the tournament. He failed in the semi-final against Sri Lanka scoring just 1 off 4 balls as New Zealand went on to lose the match and crashed out of the tournament. On 24 April 2007, Fleming resigned as the ODI captain of the Blackcaps. The announcement was made in a post-match press conference held after the Semi-Final defeat to

in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. After Fleming's last match as captain,

Mahela Jayawardene Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene ( si, දෙනගමගේ ප්‍රබෝත් මහේල ද සිල්වා ජයවර්ධන; born 27 May 1977) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who is the current consultant coach ...

added a tribute. "Stephen's been a great leader for New Zealand for some time, and you could learn a lot from him". Over a decade of leading the side he finished with 218 games, 98 wins, 106 losses. As of April 2007, Fleming had captained New Zealand in 80 Test matches—a New Zealand record and the second highest number worldwide . As a fielder Fleming took over 170 catches, giving him the 3rd highest Test aggregate for a non-wicketkeeper.

Post-captaincy

In September 2007, Fleming was replaced by

Daniel Vettori Daniel Luca Vettori (born 27 January 1979) is a New Zealand cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the New Zealand national cricket team. He was the 200th player to win their Test cricket cap for New Zealand. Vettori was the younge ...

as the New Zealand Test captain. He also left English county

after three years as captain. In February 2008 Fleming ended speculation and confirmed his retirement from the New Zealand team at the end of

's 2008 tour of New Zealand to spend more time with his family, and to play for the

. He played well in his final series, scoring 297 in six innings. In the first innings of the second test against England, he scored his 7000th run in his 110th match. In his final test at, Napier, he scored half-centuries in both innings to ensure that he finished with a Test match average of over 40 (40.06).

Playing style

Fleming was an elegant left handed

and played shots such as the flick off the pads, straight drive, cover drive and cut shots. He was also a clever

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and his field placings for many batsmen like Damien Martyn at point and aggressive captaincy made the opposition struggle for their runs. He was also a prolific slip catcher and fielded well in close-in positions.

International centuries

Fleming, a left-handed

, has made 17

centuries A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

in international cricket nine in Test matches and eight in One Day Internationals and sits ninety-sixth in the list of century-makers in international cricket.

Test centuries

One Day International centuries

After cricket

Coaching

Fleming played for

in the 2008 Indian Premier League. He was appointed as the team's head coach in 2009 and retired as a player. The side won the IPL in 2010 as well as the Champions League Twenty20 and went on to win the IPL again the following season. He coached Chennai for six seasons before the side was suspended from the IPL for two years. In 2016 he became the coach of

Rising Pune Supergiants Rising Pune Supergiant (often abbreviated as RPS) was a franchise cricket team based in Pune, Maharashtra, that played in the Indian Premier League in 2016 and as a finalist in 2017. It was the second team representing Pune after Pune Warrio ...

. In 2018 Fleming returned as coach of Chennai after the team's suspension ended. The team won the IPL during 2018 and repeated the success in 2021.

Business interests

Fleming has since been involved in setting up

CricHQ CricHQ is a digital platform for sport which combines competition management and administration software with live scoring and statistics for cricket clubs. It is based in Wellington, New Zealand, and was set up by CEO Simon Baker and former New ...

with the company's CEO Simon Baker and former New Zealand cricket captain

Brendon McCullum Brendon Barrie McCullum (born 27 September 1981) is a cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer representing New Zealand, who played all formats, including as captain. McCullum was renowned for his quick scoring, notably recording the f ...

. Fleming is one of 160 investors and a director in the company. In June 2015 the company raised US$10m from Singapore private equity firm Tembusu Partners to expand globally.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Stephen New Zealand cricketers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand One Day International captains New Zealand One Day International cricketers New Zealand Test cricket captains New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand Twenty20 International captains New Zealand Twenty20 International cricketers New Zealand Youth One Day International captains New Zealand Youth Test captains Canterbury cricketers Middlesex cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Nottinghamshire cricket captains Wellington cricketers Yorkshire cricketers ICC World XI One Day International cricketers Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand 1973 births Living people Chennai Super Kings cricketers Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Cricketers from Christchurch Indian Premier League coaches Big Bash League coaches New Zealand cricket coaches Commonwealth Games medallists in cricket South Island cricketers