Stephen Fleming is set to create a cricket benchmark Wednesday when he leads New Zealand in a Champions Trophy match against Pakistan, his 194th limited-overs international as captain.
He equalled Sri Lankan Arjuna Ranatunga's international mark of 193 one-day internationals as captain in a loss to Sri Lanka last Friday.
Since he took over nine years ago, New Zealand has won 85 limited-overs internationals and lost 95, with one tie and 12 matches that did not produce a result.
``There have been good moments and also some soul-searching ones, but that's shaped me as a captain and as a person,'' Fleming said Tuesday.
He said that his captaincy evolved from player-management skills.
``I'm still getting massive satisfaction leading the side, my private desire's to keep getting better as a captain,'' Fleming said. ``Leadership comes if you're observant, when your man-management is in order.
``A lot of captains have been cut short after a year or two, but I've had the privilege of getting this experience for a long time . . . Not just to lead, but to be innovative.''
Fleming, 33, said his New Zealanders wanted to be counted among title contenders at major events, and not just the perennial ``dark horses.''
``We're in a pretty healthy state now, but there's still a lot to achieve, such as winning this Champions Trophy tournament and then the World Cup,'' Fleming said.
Fleming was just 23 when he was nominated captain of New Zealand's Test squad and then a month later led the Kiwis out for the first time in a one-dayer _ against Sri Lanka at Christchurch in March 1997.
``I didn't quite know what I was doing when I first went out as captain. My style's gone 360 degrees since then, learning from people who were around me,'' he said. ``You develop new techniques from experience, and doing so enabled me to do the job as well as I could.
Fleming said there were times when he struggled as a batsman and also with the captaincy.
``The buck stops with me in the playing scene, to give up captaincy for the betterment of the side is something I've grappled with a couple of times,'' he said. ``One option was to walk away from it and other was to tackle the job, I decided about doing the latter.''
Despite having an important function as a team leader, Fleming knows his success as a captain correlates with his performances in his primary role.
``I'm a batsman first and foremost. To be honest, I'll spend a lot of time on my batting when I'm not playing well.''
He has no immediate plans to retire, but has already started the change in management process.
During his record-breaking captaincy tenure, Fleming has missed some matches, but also played under his deputy, Daniel Vettori, in a match against Australia last year.
``I've sought to develop the leadership along with me,'' Fleming said.
