Bracewell not responsible for slump, says Fleming

Martin Crowe: 'The trouble with Fleming not being empowered is he's just got too much time to think about his batting' © Getty Images

Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, has denied claims that his batting slump against Australia was due to the overbearing style of John Bracewell, the coach. Fleming's defence came in the wake of Martin Crowe's allegation that Bracewell's powerful role had affected Fleming's confidence, and that he had been in excellent form under the guidance of Denis Aberhart from 2001 to 2003.

"With Aberhart in the structure Stephen was flourishing as a captain and as a batsman," Crowe told Sport 365 Live, a New Zealand television program. "He took the New Zealand side to the third spot in the world in Test cricket and took himself to the top ten of the world as a batsman. Fleming has been able to blossom since then, but it now seems to be a reverse and I think Flem is a bit muted as a result."

Fleming has managed to score just 133 runs in his last four Tests at 16.63. Crowe pointed out that he was in a similar situation in 1994, when he gave up the captaincy. "The novelty wears off after a while. Halfway through 1994 I said that [giving up captaincy] was a mistake and I really needed the captaincy back if I was going to continue on," Crowe continued. "As a result my game died. I think that has happened to Flem. He won't admit it. The trouble with him not being empowered to be the boss is he's just got too much time to think about his batting. He's blocking himself up with a lot of theories, too much work and in the end you can overdo it and overcook it."

Fleming, who will drop down to No. 4 after a miserable spell as an opener, said that he enjoyed working with Bracewell and reckoned that their different styles were beneficial to the team. "There's some merit in what Martin says - you can have too much prescription but we're very aware of what the team needs at this stage, and certainly we're very flexible towards all options.

"I'm very happy about the direction in which we're moving, and where we are at the moment - it's just that it's all hands on deck right now. I'm just working extremely hard on getting my batting right and the captaincy is adding to that challenge."