The 26-year-old from Canterbury will have to be back to his best for New Zealand to have a realistic chance of reaching the second round.

A tall, elegant left-hander, Fleming is the team's most naturally talented batsman. Exuding class, he is at his best driving straight in the `V' between mid on and mid off and at his worst against fast bowling angled acorss him. Kiwis see him as their version of David Gower. Like the Englishman, he is undemonstrative. Like Gower, Fleming looks dangerously casual at times when batting. Everything appears effortless - including his dismissals.

Accusations that he cannot concentrate, however, have dissipated over recent years as he has begunto compile major scores.

A fine rugby player in his youth, Fleming made his debut as a 20-year-old in the 1993/4 season against India and scored 92, then made 90 in his first one-day international. But it was not until 1997, against England at Eden Park, that he finally made three figures in a Test.

Today, that psychological barrier is well and truly broken. Last May, in the first Test against Sri Lanka, Fleming scored his highest score of 174 not out.

By then he had already been made New Zealand's youngest captain, taking over from the hard-working but mediocre Lee Germon in 1997. He is already the most succesful skipper, in terms of Test wins, that the team has ever had.He led them to a 1-0 home Test series victory against India at the end of last Year before being injured in the opening game of the one-day series at Taupo. That ruled him out of the series against South Africa, leaving Dion Nash to takeover the reins. Outclassed in the Tests, the team performed creditably to lose the limited-overseries 3-2.

Fleming's return should boost a side needing at least one victory against Australia, Pakistan or West Indies to have a chance of making the second round in the World Cup.

His average of 32.36 in the one-dayers - he has scored nearly 3,000 runs in his 100 internationals - will come in handy, as will his close catching - he boasts the joint world Test record of five catches in an innings and seven in a match.