Ross Taylor likely to be shafted from the captaincy?

[straw man]

Yeah, we've villainised McCullum a bit unfairly here.

I would bet my left nut and right buttock that McCullum is involved to some degree in all this. The bloke has serious form in this area.

I wonder who is going to replace Taylor as captain?

Same guy? Really? Must be a coincidence...

Have to agree with a little bit of both of these.

Although McCullum no doubt has a bit of an ego, I do believe he really wants the best for NZ cricket.

At the same time, there's only so many times you can find someone standing next to the empty cookie jar with an innocent look on their face before you start to wonder...

To my mind, McCullum would definitely have been undermining Taylor in the dressing room. It probably wasn't outright nasty and treating Taylor as his enemy - but rather positioning himself as more of a leader than Taylor, speaking his mind forcefully in the dressing room when he disagreed with Taylor, giving pep talks (which he probably is genuinely better than Taylor at), siding with Hesson over any disagreements, muttering with other players about tactics or decisions made by Taylor, holding little conferences with his clique from which Taylor is excluded, body language when Taylor is speaking etc etc. I don't think McCullum would have been able to help himself - some of these things are just who McCullum is, and in other circumstances these traits wouldn't necessarily even be a bad thing.

I guess if it was truly a unanimous decision by the team that McCullum would be a far better captain than Taylor, then the will of the team would have to take precedence over Taylor's hurt feelings. However it doesn't seem so far that that is the situation.

 

[hendrix]

OJFC.

If McCullum truly was a good leader he would have supported Taylor and made sure he did have the full support of the dressing room.

Not actively working to help Taylor's authority constitutes some degree of undermining.

 

[SteveNZ]

And scribbling all over his arm. Would he cover it up at a job interview? I would. And I would cover it up when/if I represented NZ.

You ring Radio Sport sometimes, don't you.

Incidentally, I've given up listening to talkback tripe on this subject. I'll take the learned opinions and passion in here any day

 

[hendrix]

Dylan Cleaver has some good points:

Cast your mind back to October 2009, when McCullum, the obvious heir apparent to Daniel Vettori, was stripped of his vice-captaincy under the most spurious of circumstances shortly after coach Andy Moles had been removed. After initially indicating the vacancy would not be officially filled, NZC then appointed Taylor to vice-captain behind closed doors, creating a rivalry that was not the players' making.

Then, as if to deliberately increase the level of discomfort between the two and their sets of supporters, NZC chose to stage an off Broadway-type audition between the two for captaincy once Vettori stepped aside.

Great idea NZC, even better when it became apparent that the selection committee (the sort of committee the ground-breaking Hood Report into New Zealand cricket stated should be avoided at all costs) had made the decision Wright wanted long before the Powerpoint presentations were made.

Yet the same voices that somehow believe that Hesson is involved in a plot taken straight out of Machiavelli's handbook, supported Wright's right to install "his" man. Why did Wright get a free pass and Hesson gets harpooned? Probably because he looked every one of his years and had played at the highest level. Because we all know that the best players make the best coaches. Right?

 

[BeeGee]

Although McCullum no doubt has a bit of an ego, I do believe he really wants the best for NZ cricket.

When McCullum decided to give up the gloves and play as a batsman only, was that in the best interest of NZC?

NZC didn't want him to give up the gloves. The team didn't want him to give up the gloves. The fans didn't want him to give up the gloves. The only person who wanted it was McCullum and he pushed hard for it.

So they compromise and agree that he will give up the gloves in Tests and continue to keep in limited overs.

Remind me again who kept wicket in the ODI series against Sri Lanka?

 

[Bahnz]

When McCullum decided to give up the gloves and play as a batsman only, was that in the best interest of NZC?

NZC didn't want him to give up the gloves. The team didn't want him to give up the gloves. The fans didn't want him to give up the gloves. The only person who wanted it was McCullum and he pushed hard for it.

So they compromise and agree that he will give up the gloves in Tests and continue to keep in limited overs.

Remind me again who kept wicket in the ODI series against Sri Lanka?

Do we really need to go over this again? McCullum can't keep for extended periods anymore because of ongoing back injuries.

 

[SteveNZ]

When McCullum decided to give up the gloves and play as a batsman only, was that in the best interest of NZC?

Yes. Brendon's back is not up to Test cricket. Therefore if you forced him to keep the gloves, you would get a) an even further detriment to his batting b) an earlier retirement. Now I understand some people would say he's already worthless to a) and hoorah to b) but I doubt that was the case when he scored 200 in India without the gloves in his kitbag.

 

[hendrix]

After going over this a few times, I keep coming back to Hesson as being responsible.

Yes, NZC screwed up by mucking McCullum around with the vice-captaincy a couple of years ago. Yes, there's a chance he might be a more astute captain (although I don't think so).

Still, you don't come into a team as a new coach and try to oust the captain - especially when he's only been in that position for a year. Work with him on his deficiencies, sure, but don't force him out of his position.

Hesson has to go.

 

[BeeGee]

Do we really need to go over this again? McCullum can't keep for extended periods anymore because of ongoing back injuries.

Back injuries that don't affect his batting or fielding in any way and are no hindrance to him being made captain.

Yes I'm fully aware.

 

[Bahnz]

Back injuries that don't affect his batting or fielding in any way and are no hindrance to him being made captain.

Yes I'm fully aware.

 

[jcas0167]

Back injuries that don't affect his batting or fielding in any way and are no hindrance to him being made captain.

That doesn't mean he can reasonably sustain the demands of keeping in a test match. If he has ongoing back pain then that will be aggravated by the repetitive movements and unusual postures of wicket keeping. It's understandable they'd look to reduce that where possible to prolong his career.

 

[hendrix]

The bloody silence from NZC is just awful...

when is someone even going to say the token line of support for the players?

When is someone going to admit that this debacle has been extremely unprofessional and poorly managed?

 

[BeeGee]

And have you ever ****ing noticed how big McCullum's ears are? What's up with that ****? Just ****ing bizarre.

 

[Bahnz]

And have you ever ****ing noticed how big McCullum's ears are? What's up with that ****? Just ****ing bizarre.

 

[Daemon]

$5 says nothing will happen

 

[Howsie]

Seeing as he's lost the captaincy and isn't going to South Africa I'd say "something has happened"

New Zealand cricket are a joke. Why not get rid of Hesson, who the hell is he. Instead we lose the best batsmen we've had in the past 20 years.

 

[BeeGee]

$5 says nothing will happen

I'll take that bet!

Wibble!

 

[Zinzan]

I must say it irks me reading comments such as "If Taylor has any pride at all, he won't tour" or as one guy on here said "I'll actually lose respect for him if he doesn't tell NZ cricket where to go".

I for one could certainly understand if he did take such a stance, but for people to say they would lose respect if he does roll with it and decides to do his best for his country regardless is ridiculous IMO.

Maybe I'm thinking selfishly from a fans POV here, but wouldn't it be the ultimate display of 'pride' if he did suck it up (whether it's justified or not) and decided that touring would be the best thing for the NZ team and fans alike regardless of whether it's uncomfortable or not?

 

[Cloakey]

Do we really need to go over this again? McCullum can't keep for extended periods anymore because of ongoing back injuries.

Darlingface,
If he can't keep the wickets he shouldn't be in the team then should he?

 

[Flem274*]

Got a better opener?

Right now there are potential reasons far more deserving of droppage than McCullum being unable to keep wicket.