 Fleming held on to his captaincy for too long: Waugh
30th Nov 2007 19:01 IST
Agencies
Inspirational former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has held on to his position for couple of years more than he should have, believes former Australian skipper Steve Waugh.
The 42-year-old Waugh said, "Stephen has been a very good captain but I got the inkling it was time for him to go in a different direction a couple of years ago."
"It's a hard job and he's had massive responsibility from a young age. I would have been happy for him to take a bit of a back seat and just concentrate on his batting, and let someone else come in as captain," Waugh told NZPA.
But Waugh understands why Fleming, easily New Zealand's most successful test captain in his decade-long stint, held on until his messy departure this year.
"It's difficult once you've been captain to let that go. I think for (Fleming's) own benefit he needed to step back. Now he can relax a bit and concentrate on his own game," Waugh said.
"It wasn't a bad thing for New Zealand cricket, he did a great job but at some stage you've got to pass the baton over."
Fleming handed over the one-day reins after their World Cup semi-final defeat to Sri Lanka but wanted to retain the test captaincy for the South Africa and England tours.
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