Taylor’s captaincy exit ill-timed and New Zealand’s long road ahead – Opinion - Part 1
At the end of it all, it seemed a premeditative move, but for any New Zealand follower, the decision could not have been more ill timed.
After months and months of underachieving and dealing with mediocrity, the Black Caps finally conjured up a significant win against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 – their first on Lankan soil in well over a decade and a first major triumph for the best part of the current year.
The celebrations had hardly begun, and the victory barely cherished, before the captaincy issue came into the public eye.
Ross Taylor’s leadership, which had barely completed a full circle, was put into question during a time when the team, for once, started to look at ease. The likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KS-Williamson-c1813 also flourished.
Taylor’s demise seemed unfair, especially given the changes that have taken place over the past 15 months. His final words as his team completed victory against the Lankans showed that he was determined to guide his side to more glory in the coming year.
"It was nice to win and for our hard-work to pay off," Taylor said. "There's still a long way to go until we get to where we want to be as a team, and we look forward to that in the months to come. We need to keep working hard, keep believing and keep persevering
with personnel. It has been a hard twelve months, but this is a start and players are starting to get confidence."
To start with, the 28-year-old was appointed the skipper following Daniel Vettori’s decision to step down after the World Cup 2011. The decision was made after much deliberation, since both http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 were in the reckoning. However, given
the latter’s sound technical prowess, he was given the nod by then coach http://www.senore.com/Cricket/John-Geoffrey-Wright-c67883.
In Wright’s view, Taylor seemed more suitable for the job as he was the team’s best batsman. That theory got ample backing during the player’s stint as captain where he stood out head and shoulders above his teammates in terms of individual contributions.
However, Wright’s own refusal to extend his stay with the national team, where he cited differences with director of cricket, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/John-Marshall-Buchanan-c68302, eventually proved damaging for Taylor’s own progress. The Taylor-Wright pairing looked encouraging, but after their
dismal run of late, it was clear that New Zealand had greater problems to deal with.
Having conjured up a win against Australia in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045, the team endured an embarrassing run in international cricket, their first in well
over half a century.
They were defeated by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, who themselves were searching for consistency, were hardly given any fight by the Black Caps and swiftly won the two-match Test series.
Wright departed after that tour, allowing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mike-J-Hesson-c76286.
To be continued....
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