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Stephen Fleming not ready to coach New Zealand, yet. posted under: New Zealand | All news |
Former New Zealand cricket captain has been in the running to take over as national coach ever since John Wright announced that he would resign from the position..
However, Fleming has said that he is not interested in taking up the job for purely “selfish” reasons. Speaking to New Zealand’s Live Sport Radio, Fleming said that while he enjoys coaching (Fleming is co-coach of the 2 time IPL winner Chennai Super Kings, who also made it to this year’s final), his IPL commitments keep him busy only for a couple of months. He said that he prefers spending more time with his family and, “while I do care deeply about the New Zealand side and the direction they're going, the timing's just not right for me to jump back into that touring lifestyle.”
Fleming explained that working with the Chennai Super Kings keeps him connected to cricket, which he loves, but also gets a chance to pursue other business interests and spend some quality time with his family. He said, “I enjoy these two months (of the IPL) because it's my cricket fix and it's done and dusted, whereas with the national side you've got constant development and requirements with travel.”
John Wright will end his stint as coach after New Zealand’s tour against the West Indies ends in July. The board and the national director of cricket John Buchanan had expressed an interest in having separate coaches for separate formats of the game. With Fleming’s experience with his IPL team, he would have been a good candidate for the shorter versions of the game.
Asked if he at least consider the option, Fleming said, “I don't know if that's the path I want to go down. I have a good relationship with a number of the players, I enjoy talking about their game and that might pull me back at some point but I certainly can't see that in the near future.”
Fleming, now 39, retired from international cricket after scoring 7,172 runs in 111 matches and 8,037 runs in 280 one day games. He has the distinction of being New Zealand’s most capped international player, longest serving and most successful captain.
At his peak, he was regarded as one of the best captains in the world and praised aplenty by players from New Zealand and the rest of the world alike. As coach, he has been successful as the Chennai Super Kings went on to win the IPL consecutively in 2010 and 2011. They also won the T20 Champion’s League in 2010.
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