London, June 11: Yorkshire has signed New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming on an 11-week contract. Fleming, who has previously played county cricket with Middlesex, will be available from June 14 until August 31.

The black caps skipper said today that he was looking forward to the opportunity to concentrate on his batting without the responsibility of captaincy.

"I will have the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience with the coach and captain but my primary job for Yorkshire will be to score runs and take catches," said Fleming.

"Right now I feel I'm going through a growth spurt in terms of my batting development and I want to take every opportunity to consolidate this."

"There are still things I want to try and areas of my game I want to advance and during my time with Yorkshire I will have the forum to do this exclusively."

Fleming is the longest-serving captain among current Test skippers, having first taken charge in 1997.

Bureau Report