Stephen Paul Fleming (born 1 April 1973) is a cricket coach and former captain of New Zealand Cricket Team. He was a left-handed

opening batter In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...

and an occasional right arm slow medium bowler. He is

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's second-most capped

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

er with 111 appearances. He is also the team's longest-serving and most successful captain with 28 test victories and lead the team to win 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 ...

, the team's first ICC trophy. Fleming captained New Zealand in the first ever

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 the ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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

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 ...

and became the team's coach in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. He is the current head coach of Chennai Super Kings and has coached them to five IPL and two

Champions League T20 The Champions League Twenty20, also referred to as the CLT20, was an annual international Twenty20 Cricket competition played between qualifying domestic teams from some major cricketing nations. The competition was launched in 2008 with the fi ...

titles. He also serves as the head coach of other Super Kings franchises,

Joburg Super Kings Joburg Super Kings is a South African professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that will compete in the inaugural season of SA20 tournament. The team is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was formed in 2022. The team's home-ground is ...

SA20 SA20 is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in South Africa, organised by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and first contested in 2023. It is contested by six teams based in cities around the country. The first winners of the tournament were Su ...

and

Texas Super Kings The Texas Super Kings is an American professional Twenty20 cricket team that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team is based in Dallas, Texas and was announced in 2023 as one of six inaugural teams to play in Major League Cricket. The ...

Major League Cricket Major League Cricket (MLC) is an upcoming professional Twenty20 cricket league in the United States. Operated by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned by USA Cricket, it plans to begin play on July 13, 2023, with six teams in major ...

. He served as the coach of Melbourne Stars in 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 ...

from 2015 to 2019. 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 rend ...

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

Early and personal life

Fleming was born on 1 April 1973 in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

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 ( 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 me ...

. The couple have a daughter, born in 2006, and a son, in 2008.

Domestic career

Fleming has played county cricket in England for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

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 traditi ...

. 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 bec ...

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

International career

A left-handed batsman, 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 (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

winning the

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award 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 chosen from the winn ...

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. 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 the first test at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

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

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 frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Fleming led the team to win the

, 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 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 Mozam ...

which 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 ...

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 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 countri ...

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. 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 ( 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. On 25 October 2006, Fleming captained his country for the 194th time in an ODI 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 captain ...

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 cricketer. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its "golden era", between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 20 ...

. 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 (, ; 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 ...

. 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 young ...

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

Post retirement

Coaching

Fleming was appointed as the head coach of

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

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and its second Champions League Twenty20 title in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. Following the two-year suspension of Chennai Super Kings and

Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan Royals (often abbreviated as RR) are a franchise cricket team based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 as one of the initial eight IPL franchises, the team is based at the Sawai Ma ...

, two new franchises

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 Warriors ...

and

Gujarat Lions Gujarat Lions was a franchise cricket team based in the city of Rajkot, that represented the Indian state Gujarat in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team played in the IPL The team, along with Rising Pune Supergiant for two season between ...

were established for the

2016 Indian Premier League The 2016 season of the Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 9, and branded as Vivo IPL 2016 for sponsorship reasons, was the ninth season of the IPL, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in ...

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 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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,

in 2022 and

in 2023.

Business interests

Fleming has 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 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 Batter or batters may refer to: Common meanings * Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan * Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher * Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting * 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 as the "best captain in world cricket".

Statistics

Centuries

Fleming, a left-handed batsman, 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

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

Player

;New Zealand *

ICC Champions Trophy The ICC Champions Trophy is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council. The 2013 tournament was intended to be the final edition of the Champions Trophy, but it was extended to 2017 due to i ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

(Bronze) ;Nottinghamshire *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Coach

;Chennai Super Kings * Indian Premier League:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

* Champions League:

Controversies

In 1995, Fleming 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 tra ...

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.

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 medallists in cricket South Island cricketers Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games