Stephen Fleming lamented the fact that he returned from his final overseas experience as BLACKCAPS ODI captain empty-handed.
Fleming arrived back in New Zealand on Monday after the team’s ICC World Cup campaign ended at the semi-final stage with defeat to Sri Lanka.
Mahela Jayawardene’s team and champions Australia were the only sides to defeat the Kiwis in the Caribbean.
However, Fleming, who resigned as skipper after the defeat in Kingston, felt disappointed by the back-to-back losses.
And he admitted his side’s last two performances under his command did not show the best they had to offer.
“The over-riding consensus was that we were trucking pretty well before the Australia and Sri Lanka games,” he said.
“We always felt that those two sides were the sides to beat. What was more disappointing than the loss was the nature of the loss, especially the semi-final.”
The outgoing skipper felt the game’s leading teams fought out the final, with the Australians triumphing in an incident-packed finale in Barbados.
Fleming thought this was the right outcome, although he had hoped the Chappell-Hadlee Series victory would give his side hope against Ricky Ponting’s side.
“We thought we could have competed well against them given how we competed against them at home before we left,” he reflected.
“But they got on such a strong roll that it would have been very tough to win, and Sri Lanka, who we thought were playing very good cricket, were no match for them in the final.
“There’s a clear gap, and there has been for some time, between those two teams (and the rest).
“What we need to do is try to reduce that gap and come up to number one or two in the world, and, while we’re third, we’re disappointed with it.”
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