Stephen Paul Fleming (born 1 April 1973) is a 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. Nicknamed the Black Caps (), they played their first Test cricket, Test in 1930 against England cricket team, England in Christchurch, becoming the f ...

. He was a left-handed opening batter and an occasional right arm slow medium bowler. He is New Zealand's second-most capped

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

er with 111 appearances. He is also the team's longest-serving and most successful captain with 28 test victories and led the team to win the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy, the team's first

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

trophy. Fleming captained New Zealand in the first ever

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 2005. Fleming retired from international cricket on 26 March 2008. He played in the inaugural season of the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

for

Chennai Super Kings The Chennai Super Kings, also known as CSK, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of the eight debut franchises when the league was establ ...

and became the team's coach in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. He is the team's current head coach and has coached them to five IPL and two Champions League T20 titles. He also serves as the head coach of other Super Kings franchises, Joburg Super Kings in the

SA20 The SA20, also known as the Betway SA20 for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in South Africa, organised by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and first contested during the 2023 season. It is contested by six teams ba ...

and Texas Super Kings in

Major League Cricket Major League Cricket (MLC) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in the United States organized by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned by USA Cricket. Founded in 2023, the league operates as a single entity consisting of ...

. He served as the coach of

Melbourne Stars Melbourne Stars are an Australian Twenty20 franchise cricket team, based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in Australia's Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League. The Stars wear a green uniform and play their home matches at the Melbou ...

in the

Big Bash League The Big Bash League (BBL), also known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Australia. Established in 2011 by Cricket Australia, the Big Bash League replaced the previous competitio ...

from 2015 to 2019. Fleming was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cricket, in the

2011 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2011 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

to Pauline Fleming and Gary Kirk. Pauline raised him as a single mother, and he did not meet his father until he was 16. Fleming played rugby for Cashmere High like his father. On 9 May 2007, Fleming married his long-term partner Kelly Payne in a ceremony in

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. The couple have a daughter, born in 2006.

Domestic career

Fleming has played county cricket in England for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. He captained Nottinghamshire to

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

victory in 2005, their first Championship title in 18 years.

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 Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

debut in March 1994 in the home series against

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

winning the

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award on debut after scoring 92. He made his ODI debut on 25 March 1994 in the first match of the ODI series that followed and scored an unbeaten 90. In England's tour of New Zealand in 1996–97, he scored his maiden test

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. 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. ...

in the first test at

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. In the third Test of the series, he took over the captaincy from

Lee Germon Lee Kenneth Germon (born 4 November 1968) is a sporting body administrator and former New Zealand cricket team, New Zealand cricketer, wicket-keeper and former captain. He played for the provinces of Canterbury cricket team, Canterbury and Otag ...

becoming New Zealand's youngest captain at 23 years and 321 days. He led the New Zealand team to a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

Fleming led the team to win the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy, which was New Zealand's first ICC trophy. Fleming became New Zealand's most successful test captain in September 2000 with a victory over

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

which was the 12th win under his captaincy overtaking Geoff Howarth and finished with 28 wins, the most by a New Zealand captain. Fleming's scored his best ODI score with an unbeaten 134 to help New Zealand beat hosts

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. 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. In February 2005, Fleming captained New Zealand in the first ever

against

. In the second Test between New Zealand and South Africa at

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in April 2006, Fleming scored his 3rd Test double-century and became the first New Zealander to achieve this feat. On 25 October 2006, Fleming captained his country for the 194th time in an ODI overtaking Arjuna Ranatunga for most matches as a captain and finished with 218 games as a captain, a record which has since been eclipsed only by

Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time and is the most successful captain in international cricket history, ...

. He captained the side in the 2007 World Cup and scored 353 runs at an average of 39.22, leading the team to the semi-finals. On 24 April 2007, Fleming resigned as captain in a post-match press conference held after the semi-Final defeat to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. 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 and an inductee in the Ne ...

as the New Zealand captain. Fleming confirmed his retirement from the New Zealand team at the end of England's 2008 tour of New Zealand to spend more time with his family, and to play for the

. Fleming scored over 7000 runs in test cricket and took over 170 catches, the third highest Test aggregate for a non-wicket keeper.

IPL career

Fleming was acquired by

(CSK) for US$350,000 for the inaugural season of

. He played just one season and scored 196 runs in ten matches with CSK finishing as runners-up.

Post retirement

Fleming was appointed as the head coach of

in 2009 when he retired as a player. Under his coaching, CSK won the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

season and qualified for Champions League Twenty20. Chennai won the 2010 Champions league. Fleming coached CSK to its second consecutive IPL title in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and its second Champions League Twenty20 title in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. Following the two-year suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, two new franchises Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions were established for the 2016 Indian Premier League season. Supergiants appointed Fleming as the head coach. Fleming returned to Chennai Super Kings for the 2018 season. Fleming coached CSK to its third IPL title in 2018. Fleming led CSK to the title again in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and 2023 IPL. CSK became the most successful IPL franchise with five title wins and ten final appearances during his stint as head coach. He was appointed as the head coach of other Super Kings franchises, Joburg Super Kings of

in 2022 and Texas Super Kings of

in 2023.

Business interests

Fleming has been involved in setting up CricHQ with the company's CEO Simon Baker and former New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum. Fleming is one of the investors and a director in the company. In June 2015, the company raised US$10m from Singapore private equity firm Tembusu Partners.

Playing style

Fleming was an elegant left handed batter and played shots such as the flick off the pads, straight drive, cover drive and cut shots. He was also a prolific slip catcher and was particularly noted for his captaincy, having been praised by

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire ...

as the "best captain in world cricket".

Statistics

Centuries

Fleming, a left-handed

, has made 17 centuries 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 ;ODI

Captaincy

Fleming had captained New Zealand in 303 matches including 80 Test matches, 218 ODIs and 5 T20Is, a New Zealand record and the third highest ever.

Records and achievements

;Tests * Most wins by a New Zealand captain (28) * Second most number of matches as captain (80) * Third most runs for New Zealand (7172) * Third most matches for New Zealand (111) * Most fifties for New Zealand (46) ;ODIs * Most wins by a New Zealand captain (98) * Second most number of matches as captain (218) * Third most runs as captain (6295) * Most matches for New Zealand (279) * Second most runs for New Zealand (8007) * Second most fifties for New Zealand (49) ;Combined * Third most international matches as captain (303) * First non-wicket keeper to take 300 catches in international matches

Honors

Fleming was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cricket, in the

2011 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2011 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,ICC Champions Trophy:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

(Bronze) ;Nottinghamshire *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Coach

;Chennai Super Kings *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* Champions League:

Controversies

In 1995, Fleming was caught and admitted to smoking

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

with teammates Matthew Hart and Dion Nash while on tour at their hotel.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Stephen New Zealand cricketers 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 New Zealand expatriate cricketers in England 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 Doping cases in cricket 1973 births Living people Chennai Super Kings cricketers New Zealand expatriate cricketers in India Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Cricketers from Christchurch New Zealand cricket coaches Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in cricket South Island cricketers Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games