Given it’s the time of year for messages to the North Pole under the heading “Dear Santa”, maybe the Black Caps’ list should start with the urgent need for an off-field boss.

With the 32-run win over Pakistan, the first in more than a year, the team are on the cusp of returning to a semblance of success on the stage all good sides are measured - test matches.

The return of Shane Bond’s venom, the wilyness of Chris Martin, the crisp strokes of Ross Taylor and the all-round cunning of Daniel Vettori mean the team have incumbent talent. Vettori was delighted with the victory and with good reason.

But, even though the win was a good one, with character and doggedness, let’s wait before we give ourselves totally over to the illusion of a rosy future.

There are severe deficiencies, particularly in the batting. Can Daniel Flynn make it as a No3, averaging 21.50 in the position since his promising start of 95 against the West Indies a year ago?

Will New Zealand be able to return to an era where Flynn doesn’t have to think about striding out to bat when the ball is still brand new - having only touched the pitch, the stumps or the edge of a bat and a member of the slip cordon’s hands - due to a lapse in an opener’s concentration? Is Jesse Ryder, a man blessed with sensational hand-eye co-ordination, capable of a prolonged career or will a lack of fitness or discipline get the better of him?

There was enough in the dismissals of batsmen like Flynn, Grant Elliott, Peter Fulton, and even Taylor and Vettori himself to suggest that more help would not go amiss.

In Vettori’s era as skipper, with coaches John Bracewell and Andy Moles, there have been 22 tests with five wins - three against Bangladesh, one against England and yesterday’s Read more…

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It must have seemed like such a good idea at the time. Let me take you back a few weeks when, in the wake of former Black Caps coach Andy Moles’ . . . ahem . . . resignation, Brendon McCullum was relieved of the team’s vice-captaincy.

In fact, the position was disestablished and it had nothing to do with the recession.

We were told it was so McCullum could concentrate on his faltering game and yes, we were taken for idiots and somehow expected to believe this.

We were also required to accept there was no line to be drawn between, and no inference to be taken from McCullum’s demotion and the sense that Moles had been the victim of a players’ revolt.

If any of you believed that, I would also expect to find you waiting by the fireplace, reindeer nibbles in hand, on Christmas morning.

The relationship between a coach and his captain is a delicate and critical one and Moles must have realised, despite his later protests, that once Daniel Vettori stopped taking his calls, there might have been the teensiest of problems. Why, having allowed this unholy mess in the first place, would New Zealand Cricket compound it by silencing one of its more effective dressing-room voices?

Yes, McCullum’s still there, still having his say, still being heard, and he has even rediscovered that form we had been told had deserted him.

So remind me again, what was the point of relieving him of the vice- captaincy in the first place? Was it just to make a point and if so, to whom? Who exactly did it serve, because I’m not buying that it was McCullum.

The person who is the captain of New Zeland is now also its vice- captain, coach and selector. I’m still not sure whether this is madness or genius but I’m pretty sure it can’t last for Read more…

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The New Zealand cricket team retrieved some ground but still made complete goats of themselves with that first up result in Abu Dhabi.

The players led the charge to get rid of the coach and then copped one of their worst losses of recent times.

Andy Moles wouldn’t have made any difference had he been there but that’s not the point.

Hasn’t the time come when this power of the players was reined in by their employers, or at least harnessed until there was some semblance of consistency about the team’s results?

The way the show is being run at the moment, Daniel Vettori is, by some distance, the most powerful man in New Zealand cricket.

I’ve followed the game and its history in this country most of my life and I doubt there’s ever been a time since the New Zealand Cricket Council was formed in December 1894 when a player held as much influence on the field, at head office and around the board table.

Vettori is undoubtedly the best player in the country and in a team that can only be regarded as dreadful under-performers, he wields huge influence simply by virtue of his on-field deeds.

Even some of the great New Zealand players and personalities of generations past - like Tom Lowry, captain for the first two tours of England, and manager too for the second in 1931, or John R Reid, captain, star all-rounder, national selector, and de facto coach from 1958 to 1965 - never seemed to pull as many strings as Vettori does today.

Ironically New Zealand’s best teams - those with Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe at their peak between 1985 and 1990 - had so many good players that no individual was able to Read more…

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What is the difference between Daniel Vettori and Brian Tamaki? The Black Caps do not bow when they approach Vettori . . . yet.

Whether it is by circumstance or Machiavellian design, the left-arm spinner has acquired enough power to dim the environmentally friendly and energy-efficient lights over Seddon Park.

He’s now a selector, the stand-in coach, the captain, a leading bowler and one of our best batsmen.

With former coach Andy Moles dispatched, Vettori’s grip on the reins is complete.

Even Brendon McCullum’s voice in the dressing rooms has been muted by his public demotion from the vice-captaincy.

The cricket community and the media seemed to be in unison over Moles’ departure.

No-one, it appeared, was willing to suggest a mutiny had taken place or player power was getting out of hand.

Less than a year into his three-year contract, former Warwickshire opener Moles walked the plank with barely a squeak - no doubt silenced, to an extent, by the size of his pay-out.

Before splashdown he meekly complained about not being given the time to improve, and he rejected the perception he was ill-equipped to take the national side forward.

Given he got the job only when several higher-profile candidates withdrew, criticism was directed at New Zealand Cricket for rushing into the appointment.

Moles’ fate had been sealed by a poor report card on which the country’s leading players questioned whether he was up to the task.

Some of the same players flexed their muscle earlier in the year, when they delayed signing their national contracts until they had clarity around whether the inbound Australian tour Read more…

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As fate would have it, on the day Ireland announced they would formally apply to the ICC for full-member status, New Zealand gave them every reason to feel confident. They couldn’t do any worse, could they?

You can almost see the Irish delegation compiling a DVD nasty of New Zealand’s 138-run rout at the hands of Pakistan in the Abu Dhabi desert as evidence for inclusion.

It was Ireland, after all, who sent the Pakistanis packing from the 2007 World Cup.

New Zealand’s loss yesterday has little relevance in the grand scheme of things - just another one-day international in a crowded calendar - but it has rubbed out much of the goodwill accrued from their run to the final of the Champions Trophy in South Africa last month.

Fingers have predictably pointed in the direction of the coach, or lack thereof. New Zealand comfortably accounted for the same opposition one month ago with Andy Moles at the helm, although that argument conveniently ignores the fact that Vettori was effectively running the cutter at that point, Moles having lost the confidence of the dressing room.

In fact, the whole dressing room strife as a hurdle to success argument was kneecapped by Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder who put the shake into Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

This is the same Afridi who had recently dominated headlines in Pakistan because of his supposed rift with captain Younis Khan over (if you believe the desert telegraph) his desire to be one-day captain.

Yesterday he smote 70 from 50 deliveries, then came within an inch of a hat-trick when befuddling New Zealand’s lower middle order. All that controversy must have really played havoc with his “head space”.

No, the coaching debacle is too convenient a scapegoat. The real reason for the calamitous performance was that when the blowtorch was applied NZ’s batsmen again melted Read more…

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Dan Vettori has seldom spoken a truer couple of sentences than he did this week when looking ahead at how New Zealand will settle on a new national coach.

“We just want to sit back and make sure this process is as thorough as possible. We don’t want to be in a similar situation again,” he said.

As New Zealand Cricket begin the search for a replacement for the departed Andy Moles, the first thing they must do is settle on the type of person they want.

Do they want a hands-on operator, armed with skills to pass on to the players, providing a strong hand on the tiller? Or should he be an organiser, a backroom planner who makes sure everything is running smoothly, using specialist coaches for individual player needs, and take some load off Vettori?

The last two coaches, John Bracewell and Moles, came from opposite ends. Neither appeared an entirely happy fit with the players, for various reasons.

So what to do? Where to look?

There is only one candidate in New Zealand who would be considered, former captain and Indian coach John Wright. He has received less than resounding endorsements from both NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan and Vettori, who have talked of the need to find the right fit for Wright, so to speak.

If he is discounted, then it’s overseas NZC must go, and perhaps to swallow a Read more…

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Coaching crises and off-field anarchy are usually Pakistan’s domain, although New Zealand have attempted to level the playing field with Andy Moles’ untimely demise on the eve of their three-match one-day cricket series.

Add in Brendon McCullum losing the vice-captaincy and for once New Zealand can rival their opponents in the controversy stakes.

Pakistan’s preparations have been laced with rumours of match-fixing, talk of a fallout between senior players and the skipper’s resignation then reinstatement.

New Zealand leave for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today coach-less although by no means rudderless, as Daniel Vettori’s powers are all encompassing for the time being.

Captain, selector, leading allrounder and for now, acting coach. And it seems Vettori will remain the master of all trades for the three test series against Pakistan starting in Dunedin on November 24.

“Now every single person in the squad has to pick up a little bit of the slack,” Vettori said. “People will still expect us to win, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t, and that’s the mindset that we have to have going away.

“We need to win these games to take some pressure off what’s happening here.”

New Zealand Cricket does not want to rush to find Moles’ replacement and is Read more…

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If New Zealand were this morning flying to Dubai for their limited-overs series against Pakistan, coach Andy Moles would most likely have been on board.

He might still be, when the squad head to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, depending on the state of negotiations with New Zealand Cricket.

Moles, who is contracted until the end of the 2011 World Cup, effectively became a dead man walking this week amid revelations that there was unease from a variety of quarters over the lack of progress being made under his regime.

The former Warwickshire batsman took charge just under a year ago but NZC have been aware of growing concerns that all was not well for some months.

Moles began talks with NZC yesterday. Last night, the national body issued a one-sentence statement, that it would be making “no further comment today”.

It is understood the process is at a point where the two parties are settling on a number to pay out Moles for the remainder of his contract.

If it is not resolved before Tuesday it is likely that, for legal reasons, Moles would travel to the UAE, with the resolution to be left until the end of that short trip.

There appear to be three options:

Moles walks away with a satisfactory payout, perhaps in the region of $300,000, and a short-term stand-in installed for the five limited-overs internationals against Pakistan.

If a settlement is not reached, Moles goes to the UAE, on a “business as usual” basis.

Or New Zealand could go to UAE with a manager, support staff and the players, Read more…

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New Zealand’s senior players want Andy Moles as their friend but not as their cricket coach.

The affable Englishman has struggled with the transition from taking a first-class side to an international one and patience has run out.

This is not player power, it is a plea for help.

Daniel Vettori’s men are not angels, but neither are they backstabbers. They have voiced their concerns through the correct channels and were not the leak to The Dominion Post.

This team wants to do better but the consensus is it can no longer carry Moles and his sidekick, Mark O’Donnell, along for the ride.

The players’ reviews claim Moles has offered little of substance technically or tactically since replacing John Bracewell 12 months ago.

Bad habits have also been allowed to go unpunished and Vettori has been forced to take up the slack. Vettori is not Superman. Next he’ll be driving the team bus.

The players are not the only ones to have voiced concerns about Moles’ coaching ability. It was uncovered yesterday that NZC’s High Performance Centre and some support staff had also tabled concerns and that NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan was becoming increasingly alarmed.

The situation has parallels with New Zealand rugby league in 2007.

The Kiwis wanted to lift their standards and realised that, in coach Gary Kemble, they did not have the right man in the driver’s seat. Stephen Kearney swept in and a World Cup was won.

Mediation begins today and Moles needs to read the signals. He has the lost the dressing room and, no matter how great his love for the game, he must walk away, albeit Read more…

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Well, I'm here in Johannesburg, at the Champions Trophy. I didn't think I'd be here.

If you've read my last post then you'll know I was expecting a three-week break. I got nine days into that and I got a call from our New Zealand coach, Andy Moles, telling me that I'd be travelling the next day to come into the squad.

Daryl Tuffey had broken his hand while fielding in the Sri Lanka game. He bowled after doing it which is an amazing effort, but in the morning his hand was huge. Like one of those big 'foam hands' you wear at the baseball from what I have heard. I feel really bad that Daryl couldn't finish the tournament, it's a terrible thing to be bowling really well and pick up a very unexpected injury that rules you out of such a special competition. I feel really bad for him and wish him as quick a recovery as possible! Read more...

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