New Zealand puts sweeping changes on hold
NZC has not made any major changes after its meeting reviewing New Zealand's disastrous tour of Bangladesh, where they lost all four ODIs
ESPNcricinfo staff
22-Oct-2010
NZC has said the team needs to be given a chance to redeem themselves • Getty Images
The New Zealand board has put on hold any sweeping changes following the team's disastrous tour of Bangladesh, where they lost all four ODIs. It has instead set up a specialised cricket committee and called on the players to redeem themselves on next month's tour of India.
The board met on Friday with captain Daniel Vettori, coach Mark Greatbatch and performance director Roger Mortimer, after nine-hour-long meetings on Thursday with NZC management and Martin Toomey, a high-ranking official of SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand), a government sponsored body to promote sports in the country.
Chris Moller, the NZC chairman, called Friday's meeting with the team officials "comprehensive and robust", and said that the New Zealand team needed to be given an opportunity to redeem themselves, on the tour of India next month.
"We believe that the team needs to be given the chance to demonstrate that they can perform," Moller said, "the players must take responsibility."
The cricket committee comprises Moller, former international cricketers Stephen Boock and Rob Hart, and High Court judge Sir John Hansen. Its remit will run "from the grassroots right through to the elite level, including the Black Caps."
Moller said that while the performance in Bangladesh was "very concerning", they will be no major changes in team composition or in the team management immediately. Vettori is the team's captain, part of the selection committee, their leading bowler and an important lower-order batsman, but NZC decided he didn't have too much on his plate. "We asked that question, we had a good debate on the subject," Moller said. "Dan commented that he feels the level of weight on his shoulders was far less than was the case 12 months ago."
Bangladesh's emphatic victory was the first time they had defeated major opposition in a series. The tour was marred by poor weather and rain washed out New Zealand's warm-up games, forcing the visitors to go into the ODI series with no match practice. Their batsmen struggled to adjust to the pace and turn of the pitches in Mirpur and failed to score more than 200 in three out of four innings.