Cricket: Baz finding it tough at the top

It was bad enough that he was singled out in the New Zealand Cricket contracts saga and made to look disloyal.

It was especially galling to be sacked as vice-captain and told to concentrate on scoring runs.

It will be potentially devastating to his psyche to lose the one-day opening role he so obviously covets.

But that's what is facing Brendon McCullum in this three-match series against Pakistan. He wants to open for New Zealand in ODIs.

He sees it as a chance to win a match for his country every time he walks out to the crease.

He has three games, against a handy new ball attack at that, to prove to the selectors that his immense skills are better suited to the initial 10-over powerplay than they are to the discretionary powerplay the batting captain can call on later in the innings.

No pressure then, Brendon.

The question of where best to use McCullum in the batting order has become a hardy annual but it is a debate with no winner. Given that he cannot perform both roles at the same time, it is impossible to say whether effectiveness or otherwise in either position comes down to suitability, or just plain old form issues.

At the recent Champions Trophy in South Africa, McCullum was actually quite good, reaching 40 in his first three innings, getting half a start in his fourth, before an excruciating 14-ball duck in the final.

What was more worrying than his productivity, however, was the fact McCullum did not look as if he was sure about how he was meant to play. He is at his devastating best when he has a licence to attack from ball one. Instead, he often looked like he was batting against the fear of failure.

In that respect, McCullum faces a horrible dilemma in the desert: to be at his best, he must take the risk of failing; if he fails, he will likely face a drop down the order when Bangladesh arrive in New Zealand later in the summer.

But McCullum can at least take comfort in the fact that, despite his leadership demotion, his place in the team is never in doubt. At the same time, he is a proud man and a drop down the order would weigh heavily on him, just as it did when the selectors abandoned the idea of batting him at No 5 in tests.

As it has turned out, his greatest ally in the opening stakes could be the man who normally stands at the other end against the new white ball.

"I think he should stay up there and I don't see why people are saying put him back to seven because the records show that we do pretty well together up the top of the order," Jesse Ryder said last week.

"It's not very often we fail as a partnership and at this stage, I think it's been really good. It's good for both of us because our personalities combine well when we bat with each other out and he really is a calming influence on me."

Do not underestimate the weight of those words. Remember it was only 18 months ago when New Zealand Cricket thought they had found a short-format opening partnership for the ages when McCullum and Ryder took England's new-ball attack - including James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom - apart during their tour Downunder.

In the five-match series, they put together a match-winning partnership of 61 (in 78 balls) chasing a small target on a ropey pitch in the first match, then followed it with an unbeaten 165-run (109 balls) slaughter in match two. There followed partnerships of 7 (11), 70 (61) and 103 (68).

But as much as the numbers told a story back then, it is the last sentence in Ryder's statement that will likely carry the most resonance.

New Zealand Cricket rate Ryder's talent so highly, they will take into account his thoughts on who should open with him.

Comments selector and captain Daniel Vettori made to this newspaper a fortnight ago were picked up and taken up by other media as a sign he was leaning towards dropping McCullum down the order.

In fact, he was non-committal.

"The way the game is going [with batting powerplays], it has become more important to have a guy down the order who can finish your innings off," Vettori said. "We've fallen over a few times recently in the late stages, so that's maybe an option for later in the summer but at the moment Brendon's got the opportunity to open against Pakistan."

McCullum won't have his buddy Ryder at the other end in the UAE - he is rehabbing a pelvic injury - but he will have every motive to do well.

Three knocks against anyone in one summer would be tough to take.

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Wright gains more support for top job

Martin Snedden, the former New Zealand Cricket chief executive, believes John Wright must be installed as the team's coach following the removal of Andy Moles. Wright, the country's high-performance manager, has been mentioned whenever the side has had a vacancy at the top, but has never done the job.

"I'm going to put my hand up and say John Wright's time is now, he would be great," Snedden told the Dominion Post. "Right at the heart of this is John Wright has the know-how. So much of what he brings is required. The skill of batting, the passion, he was so nationalistic as a player, we need that right now."

The options for New Zealand have been reduced after the Australians Tom Moody and Greg Shipperd said they were not available. Stephen Fleming, the former captain, has also ruled himself out. However, Steve Rixon, who has held the post before, is interested in a reunion.

"The timing is quite good," he said. "I think that the job that needs to be done is very similar to the job that had to be done in 1997 and the challenge is appealing. They need to get back to simple basics, be more disciplined and possibly look at the make-up of the side."

Wright spent four years with India and has been the high-performance manager for two years without showing the necessary interest in another full-time international role. "There is talk of perceived shortcomings - if that's the case you cope with that," Snedden said. "It is far better to have a coach with John Wright's skills and know-how than someone else who might have that [an ability to organise] and very little else.

"Currently our batting is a problem. We have the raw talent with guys like Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder and Tim McIntosh, but they are still to learn the skills how to survive. John has all of that knowledge and the desperation."

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Fleming says no to New Zealand job

Stephen Fleming, the former captain, is not interested in replacing Andy Moles as New Zealand's coach due to the time the appointment would take up. Fleming retired last year and has been a popular choice among players and pundits to step in for Moles, who resigned last week after the side's key men highlighted his tactical deficiencies to New Zealand Cricket.

"It is not my interest to coach internationally," Fleming said. "I am very happy with the business side of things I am looking to set up, and with my family life. I do not have the time [for coaching] and I do not have the desire."

Fleming captained New Zealand for a decade and played 111 Tests and 280 one-day internationals before retiring. Now 36, Fleming is establishing a business career as well as coaching Chennai in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League.

He also said it would not be appropriate to work with men who he was playing alongside last year. "The group of players there now are too close to my era, and also my coaching ability is unproven," he said.

Other contenders for the post include John Wright, the former India coach, who is currently New Zealand's high performance director, while Steve Rixon is reportedly interested. The side is about to start a series against Pakistan in the UAE and senior officials hope to make a full-time appointment by February, but may have to wait until after the IPL tournament.

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NZC to ponder over new coach

New Zealand Cricket will not be advertising for a replacement for Andy Moles, according chief executive Justin Vaughan.

Moles resigned his position at the weekend as head coach of the Black Caps after a review revealed he had lost the confidence of his senior players.

Former New Zealand coach Steve Rixon has already expressed an interest in the position, while John Wright - currently the high performance manager for New Zealand Cricket and ex-coach of India - has also been linked with the job.

But Vaughan said the organisation would be looking at exactly the type of coach the New Zealand team requires rather than opening up the process.

"I think the review we have undergone over the last week will give us some good pointers on that but we need to be extremely clear rather than focusing on names or who is available. We need to be 100% certain the type of coach this team needs," Vaughan said.

"Whilst I'm sure (Rixon and Wright) are good coaches I'm certainly not going to be in a position to talk about possible candidates for this job until we are absolutely certain of the attributes, the experience, the type of personality and the skills that a particular coach needs to bring to get the best out of this team. I think that's absolutely fundamental."

New Zealand will leave later on Tuesday for a limited-overs series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates with Daniel Vettori taking charge of the side in a captain-coach capacity.

That situation is expected to remain for the Test series between the two teams in New Zealand which immediate follows the three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, respectively.

But Vaughan said it was not the long-term solution.

He told Radio Sport: "My thinking at the moment is that we need a head coach. It's Dan's view as well.

"I will be interested to see how the team travels. I guess it (no coach) is a bit of a novelty. I think it could be quite healthy. It will demand that the senior players take on a real leadership role within that unit.

"But I don't see that as a long-term sustainable option for this team. This team has got too much inexperience. I don't think this Black Caps team is in a position where it can be completely self-sufficient."

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No hurry to replace NZ cricket coach

The New Zealand cricket team are without a coach for the rest of this year and a fulltime replacement for Andy Moles may not be found until after the home summer.

While a clutch of home-grown names have been thrown up as interim options to replace Moles, who was forced to resign yesterday, it appears likely captain Daniel Vettori will act as coach for the team's next two series.

Vettori is preparing for the extra responsibility in next month's limited overs series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, followed by a home Test series against the same opponents.

However, he told NZPA he doesn't want the role beyond then, with the Black Caps hosting Bangladesh and Australia from February.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan wants the stormy fallout of this week to fade before turning his thoughts to a fulltime replacement.

He said it was "reasonable" to assume Vettori would remain player-coach for the home Test series starting in a month.

Beyond that there is the option of a temporary appointment but Vaughan won't speculate on some of the names already bandied about, such as former captains John Wright and Stephen Fleming.

"There's a lot of thinking that needs to be done and a lot of dust needs to settle in the wake of this week's events," Vaughan told NZPA.

"We're trying to get to grips with how this team can kick on.

"Andy's departure was the final consequence of a wide-ranging review into how the team is and isn't operating at present."

Another outcome was the removal of wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum from his vice-captaincy duties, with Vaughan keen for a group of senior players to share leadership duties below Vettori.

Assistant coach Mark O'Donnell will continue to help run practice for the 15-man squad on their five-match tour of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. They leave on Tuesday.

Vettori was reluctant to look far beyond that series but said he would seek consultation when the coach appointment process begins.

"Maybe I have a strong say in too much at the moment," he laughed.

"But whenever that happens, it needs to be a thorough process because we don't want to get ourselves in a similar situation."

Vettori reluctantly used the word "relief" to describe his reaction to Moles' forced resignation yesterday.

He said while the Englishman's coaching style hadn't worked with New Zealand, it was no reflection on the regard he held him in and he was saddened by how the process had publicly unfolded.

Vettori reiterated the controversial ousting of the coach hadn't been player-driven.

"I don't think players have that much power," he said. "They have the ability to give an opinion but in the end it's an organisational decision and it's come from a number of areas."

Vaughan didn't want to "dredge up" what Moles' perceived shortcomings were and had no regrets over his appointment last November when several other candidates withdrew.

"It is always going to be a step to go from domestic cricket to being coach of one of the big eight international teams, just as it is for a player," said Vaughan.

"NZC was aware of areas the team needed to improve.

"Certainly following Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy, many of those concerns had been magnified and extended."

Moles' departure ironically comes in the wake of New Zealand's best performance of the past year, reaching the final of the Champions Trophy.

The well-travelled coach did not believe player power had escalated but he stressed the importance of choosing a strong-willed successor.

"They need a coach who's going to be really forceful and a guy who perhaps will be allowed to come in and run the show by himself," he said.

"Obviously my brand of coaching wasn't the type of coaching that these players desired and I understand that."

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NZC backs Moles to stay on as coach

New Zealand Cricket has moved to back the coach Andy Moles after a report in Thursday's Dominion Post said senior players wanted Moles sacked. Without naming any individuals, the paper reported that the players believed Moles was not up to standard as an international coach, despite guiding them to the final of the Champions Trophy.

Justin Vaughan, the NZC chief executive, issued a statement to confirm that Moles remained the coach and was preparing the side for the upcoming tour of the UAE. However, there is a review taking place following New Zealand's disappointing tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy.

"Following the Black Caps' return from Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy we are undertaking a review of the team's performance," Vaughan said. "This looks at all aspects of individual and collective performance with a view to continuous improvement."

The Dominion Post reported that the senior players had a list of concerns including that Moles had not given them enough tactical or technical support and that the captain Daniel Vettori had effectively been coaching the side for the past six months. The paper said that mediation was taking place.

Moles took over from John Bracewell 11 months ago and has a contract until the 2011 World Cup. New Zealand have continued to be a competitive one-day side during his reign, winning nine of 19 ODIs, but they haven't won any of their seven Tests since Moles took over. The team's next engagement is a limited-overs series against Pakistan in the UAE next month.

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