Fleming career strewn with 'what if' questions

What if the 34-year-old former captain had converted more of his 44 Test half centuries into centuries?

What if New Zealand had won just one of the three World Cup semi-finals in which he was captain? What if he had had a fully fit Chris Cairns or Shane Bond available to him for sustained periods throughout their injury-plagued Test careers?

"I will have a lot of regrets, but most of them are statistical and they don't really mean anything," the left-handed batsman said ahead of his final match, the third test against England at McLean Park.

"You can bust your gut and get wound up about statistical goals that you deem are important but I don't think they are. I've not tried to be the player that achieves statistically great things. It's probably left me a bit short, but at times it has given me great exhilaration and great reward."

Fleming, however, admitted statistics had been driving him heading into the three-Test series against England.

He wanted to pass 7,000 Test runs, which he did in Wellington.

He wanted to score a 10th Test century after being dismissed five times in the 90s during his career (including 92 not out against Pakistan in 1996) and he has a maximum two furtheropportunities to achieve that goal.

Fleming also said he wanted to end with a career average of 40, the statistical measure of a good test batsmen.

To do so, he needs 113 further runs on the batsman-friendly pitch in Napier if he is out twice. He needs 73 if he is dismissed once.

WINNING POSITION

Fleming said if he managed either, he would have placed his side in a good position to win the Test and series.

"If I can get it up above 40 then it means I have scored enough to put pressure on England," he said. "I'd love to finish with a substantial score to put us in a position to win the series."

Widely regarded as the best captain in world cricket throughout his 10-year tenure, he managed to achieve results with a side with few world class players.

New Zealand won 28 of his 80 tests in charge and he led the Kiwis to their second series win in England in 1999, which he described as a particular highlight that allowed the team to build confidence he believes it still exhibits now.

"It was the point where we realised that we could compete, particularly overseas. We had been a spasmodic side (and) to win that series put us on a nice track," he said.

"It was certainly the most enjoyable period I had because the belief for the first time was there in the side. We're always looked upon as a side as being dangerous but we've had that for too long. We now compete with most teams in the world."

Fleming said he was leaving the New Zealand side in good hands with Daniel Vettori as captain, and while there were concerns over the country's player depth, the development programmes in place were encouraging.

As for his own legacy?

"I would say a thinker, where I was able to take my game and New Zealand cricket forward," he said.