Cricketing Safari by Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle. Published by Hodder MOA Beckett. Price $24.95. Reviewed by Lynn McConnell.

Publishing players' diaries has got to be one of the more hazardous publishing ventures. While the idea might start with the best of intentions, it can become upset by any number of events.

The New Zealand tour through Africa was a classic example. When the side left New Zealand in September it was representative of a strong and competitive unit that might be able to turn the tide against the South Africans.

The build-up was lengthy but ideally sufficient to have New Zealand arriving in South Africa at peak and ready to take on the strong home team in both Tests and one-dayers.

From the start the tour was upset by persistent injury to star players. Daniel Vettori, Dion Nash, Matthew Horne were invalided out during the Zimbabwe leg, Chris Cairns followed in South Africa and so it continued.

There was the unexpected highlight of the winning of the ICC KnockOut, a publisher's delight, but against that there was the lack of the expected competitiveness against South Africa.

So with that in mind it is fair to say that Cricketing Safari is more a chronology of cricketing misery than it is a record of triumph.

It was compounded by the disappointing lack of form of Astle on the latter part of the tour.

However, it does provide an insight into the developing role of Fleming as the leader of the New Zealand side. Although not openly revealing the knowledge of the traditions of the New Zealand game in the manner which makes Australian captain Steve Waugh's diaries so fascinating, Fleming does show a greater feel for his position.

It was something borne out back in New Zealand when he, rightly, assumed greater control for the team's persona.

The preparation for team meetings, and team discussions, are highlighted as is also Fleming's doubts about his right to lead the side.

Speaking after losing the one-day series in Zimbabwe he says: "The only one-dayer we have won was when I was off the field, which doesn't make me feel too good. My batting is the big issue. When this is going well, my decision-making is a lot sharper, but at present I am double-guessing myself due to a lack of confidence.

"Am I the right person to captain this side? Is the pressure now starting to affect my batting? Am I better off without the captaincy of the one-day side? Or am I making a meal out of the situation because things haven't gone right for me on this tour?"

All fair and reasonable questions, and ones that have no doubt occupied the minds of many leaders, in all walks of life, at one time or another.

But then, in one of the triumphs of his captaincy method, Fleming drastically understates his leadership role in the ICC KnockOut final.

One of the features of New Zealand's success in that game was restraining the Indian batting line-up when it looked like posting more than 300 runs.

The only acknowledgement Fleming makes is, "They got off to a flyer and it takes all our resources to stop the bleeding and then start clawing our way back into the game. We did that by restricting India to 264 when they really should have scored closer to 300." End of discussion.

This was a missed opportunity of describing in some detail the processes a leader goes through when he is trying to turn a situation around.

Another opportunity lost was when Fleming fronted up to the media on arrival in South Africa and prepared himself for questions on the incident in 1994 which led to his suspension.

"I sit back six years on and reflect how the controversy and emotions experienced during that time have helped shape me as a person and given direction to my career."

But that is it. Here was an excellent chance for Fleming to reflect on some of the emotions experienced. Perhaps these are areas for expansion in an autobiography in the future.

Then there is that record, the poorest conversion rate of 50s to centuries. After getting to 57 in the first Test against South Africa he noted: "This statistic hurts me immensely, and I'm determined to make amends the latter half of my career."

Fleming has already targeted his time in Middlesex as being where he wants to address this phenomenon of his career. If he wants to forget about the negative aspect of it, Fleming could always note that he has scored 50 more times than anyone else in New Zealand Test history. He has scored 29 50s, while John Wright scored 23, John R Reid 22, Chris Cairns has 19, the same number as Bevan Congdon scored while Martin Crowe scored 18.

Astle's role in the book is one of support and that is fine as it allows him to pass comment on matters that Fleming as skipper could never do. For instance, when commenting on the umpiring during the Test series in South Africa.

"I know this is part of the game, but to me umpires need to be more accountable for bad decisions, as they can affect someone's career. What makes it worse, if we show any annoyance when given out and we know we weren't, we can end up being fined and nothing happens to the umpire," he said.

Astle also reveals some inner feelings of helplessness that struck the team.

"My feeling has been one of frustration over the last day or so, mainly because we have not been able to compete with South Africa. We improved in the last game but still could not pull off a win to stay in the series. This is where touring becomes very difficult, as things start to play on your mind and sometimes you start to wonder where your next win is going to come from."

Fleming offers a report card at the end of the book with comments on every player except Astle, though an assessment of him would have been worthwhile, with perhaps Astle offering some thoughts on his skipper.

Cricketing Safari is an interesting exercise in recording one of the more frustrating tours undertaken in the modern era and offers an insight into making such a trek without quite getting into the issues in sufficient depth to make it a compelling read. The potential was there but perhaps player contracts don't allow as much freedom as would be enjoyed in an end of career autobiography.

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