Apart from a couple of impressive performances by the likes of Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder and Chris Martin, the Black Caps have been sorely exposed by India for what they have predictably become.
Regrettably the days of NZ fielding a competitive and well organised team have been replaced by a group of enthusiastic individuals that may very well include some of the most talented this country has ever produced – but nevertheless, our fractured squad is floundering as a consequence of the abysmal standard of coaching and management who’s combined mandate appears to offer little more than an occasional hint during times of crises.
The on-field failures we have witnessed over the past couple of seasons should come as no surprise as they are symptomatic of the serious lack of wisdom and judgement offered by those in charge. The most irking issue in my opinion is that we are continuing to observe the capitulation of some of the most exciting cricketers we have produced in a generation simply because those at the helm appear to have little comprehension as to how to build a true high performing team.
Make no mistake; today’s cricketers have been failed by those responsible for their development, however, because of the terrific void in understanding amongst the hierarchy, they appear oblivious of the deficiencies.
If New Zealand is serious about the sport, we must accept that despite Daniel Vittori’s obvious gift for the game, he cannot be expected to shoulder the responsibility for the development and preparation of the team when he has his own job to do. New Zealand Cricket needs to take a good hard look at itself and accept the issues we are seeing today are indicative of a coaching and administration failure as opposed to a lack of depth or talent as suggested.
The reason I say this is because there is little doubt we have been more competitive in the past than we are at present even though many of the teams we have fielded previously were more devoid of player capability than today.
That said the notion of a lack of depth is not entirely untrue. However, it is regrettable that it is being used to infer a lack of ‘quality’ in regards to the calibre of players coming into the game and/or a player ‘shortage’ throughout the game. Rather the issue, as I see it, is due to the lack of sound professional development of those who take up and ultimately pursue the game in our national competition. In other words, I believe it is the lack of coaching capability and administrative leadership in the sport that is responsible for the issues we are observing today – until these factors are addressed, we are likely to see more of the same.
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