Sports
McCullum should continue leading NZ in all three formats: Fleming
Christchurch, April 2
Former New Zealand
batsman Stephen Fleming hopes Brendon McCullum - the current skipper -
would continue being at the helm until the end of the ICC World Twenty20
in 2016.
The former skipper believes McCullum has led the side
by example and should continue with the good work that he has been
crafting along with coach Mike Hesson.
"I hope he opts to carry
on in charge of the side across all formats for the foreseeable future.
He has lifted the Black Caps up by their bootstraps - remember the first
match after he was appointed Test captain saw the side bowled out for
45 against South Africa in Cape Town - and he ended the World Cup with
his position water-tight.
"He is a positive leader who leads by
example and although Kane Williamson is regarded as the next cab off the
rank in terms of captaincy, it would be ideal if McCullum stayed on to
continue the work he and coach Mike Hesson have begun, at least until
the end of that ICC World Twenty20 at the earliest," Fleming wrote in a
column for the International Cricket council website.
The
42-year-old former left-hand bat said the team's success in the World
Cup where they finished runners up has paved the way for New Zealand
Cricket's (NZC) administrators to negotiate and find suitable
commitments for the national team.
"We have to hope the team's
success and the fact its profile has now grown in a major way will
provide New Zealand Cricket's (NZC) administrators with more clout
around negotiating future commitments for the national side."
"I
say that because there is no doubt our relationship with our nearest
neighbour Australia has got out of kilter. We simply have not been
playing them often enough and although we have those home and away Test
series against them next summer and I understand there is talk of more
Chappell-Hadlee matches in the future, it is a situation that longer
term needs to change."
The ideal would be for the World Cup to be
a starting point for a renewed on-field rivalry, much as was the case
for Australia and South Africa following their matches in the 1999
tournament, but the best way for New Zealand to make the case for more
matches against the higher-profile sides more often is to keep winning.
Nothing succeeds like success.
Fleming also believes the success
can be a boon for players too who maybe offered lucrative contracts in
leagues around the world in turn helping them having a sound career.
"And
that can have spin-offs for the players, too, not just in more and more
high-profile international cricket but also, if they perform well, with
lucrative contracts in the Indian Premier League or the Caribbean
Premier League, for example."
"Opportunities like those are
important not just for the players but also for NZC too as they can
serve the duel purpose of offering players exposure to different
conditions and high-quality opponents while at the same time ensuring
those players are also financially secure," he said.
"And that is
important because although NZC is in a sound financial position it is
no India, England or Australia in terms of the size of its cheque book,
but another positive spin-off of the World Cup run could be the
possibilities it opens up for greater commercial opportunities, both at
home but also, significantly, abroad."