Stephen Fleming quit as New Zealand's one-day captain on Tuesday after his side's crushing World Cup semi-final defeat by Sri Lanka. Fleming, 34, has led the side for 10 years and wants to stays as test captain and continue playing limited over internationals.
"I want to keep on playing but I'm standing down as captain of the one-day side," he told a news conference. "Every win was celebrated. The tournament wins were very special. I think we do damn well with what we have got."
Fleming has served as skipper for three World Cups, reaching two semi-finals. But New Zealand have never reached the World Cup final and in all have now lost five semi-finals in nine tournaments following Tuesday's 81-run loss.
"I'm not sure there was much more we could have done. As far as planning goes, we were extremely clear in our minds what we wanted to do," Fleming added. The Christchurch-born batsman, who is also New Zealand's most successful and longest-serving test captain, led the one-day side for 218 of his 280 internationals, winning 98 and losing 106 matches.
"Stephen has been a great leader for New Zealand for quite some time now," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said. "Even when I started he was captain. You could learn a lot from him. He is a very good captain and with the resources he had he has built up a very decent team.
"He's been one of the top captains for the last 10 years." Fleming, who made his one-day international debut against India at Napier in March 1994, first captained the side in a defeat by Sri Lanka in Christchurch in March 1997. Vice-captain and key spinner Daniel Vettori will be the front-runner to replace Fleming.