After a disappointing second Test loss to South Africa, we sat down with former Blackcap and The AM Show host Mark Richardson to see what went wrong and the general state of New Zealand cricket.
Where are the Blackcaps going wrong?
The key areas where they need to improve is first outcome results and that's more runs; we've simply got to score more runs and also take more wickets. Now I have confidence in the seam bowling unit to take wickets, to be able to bowl a side out but we're not playing in conditions that we used to. We're not playing on a fiery green seaming shoot out conditions, we're playing in fear cricket conditions so we need a spinner who can contribute with the ball and take wickets as well and we're not getting that.
We've got spinners at the moment who'll bowl 30 overs and will get 2 for 90, we need someone that might bowl 15 overs and might take 4 for 60 and we don't have that.
Are there players/spinners like that coming through?
We're not like the All Blacks in that there's an endless supply of talent and guys can leave and lose form and you can replace them with other world class players. We can't do that so we've tended to take a punt on players at first class level and hope their performance will lift when they play international cricket and they'll be an international cricketer.
That's fraught with danger and I think you've got to reward guys who have succeeded in four day cricket in this country and hope that our four day cricket represents the skills you need to be an international player. We've probably still got too much of a jump for our provincial cricketers to be immediately good at the international level.
Are there any names that you think should be in the frame?
We have to continue looking at Todd Astle as a leg spinning bowling option. He's outperformed all other spinners in New Zealand over the last few years and you have to look at his numbers. I think he struggles mentally at the top level but the only way you learn not to struggle at the top level is to play the top level.
And I want to see them look at Colun Munro as a test match batsman. I throw him in the David Warner category, obviously not as good as Warner but he was initially seen as just a slogger and now he's one of the best test openers around. Munro averages 50 in first class cricket, regardless of how he bats and his style, you can't ignore those numbers.
Are they far away from being the top side or are we closer than we think?
I think we're at a point where one in five games against a top side we can expect to do well or maybe push for a victory or have a winning draw. We're still some way behind them. I think in this country we'll always be a top five side but struggle to be a top three side, we'll sit around that middle in test match cricket.
We just don't produce enough world class players. We get one or two in the side or two or three, in a good little period we might have four guys who we can call world class and one guy punching above his weight. Most of the time, we probably have two to three and we've seen in this series, if you lose one in Ross Taylor you're seriously exposed.
Tom Latham's a hot point of discussion at the moment, how highly do you rate him? Should they persevere with him?
I like Latham as player, I like his grit, I like his determination and I quite like his demeanour.
He's out of form and you get to a point where you say 'alright are we expecting him to succeed in his next few innings' and I think he's reached that tipping point where we look at what he's doing and we're thinking 'no, odds are he won't succeed'.
Now I hope he does, he's got the goods but he's playing with a cloudy mind at the moment because he's making mental errors that an opener shouldn't make. And he's got to somehow find the clarity not to make those mistakes and that only really comes with success. Somehow he's got to battle through and get some success before he'll start to find the rhythm and trust in his play which will mean he'll just focus on the ball and trust himself to make the right decisions.
At the moment I think he's grit your teeth and playing at a very conscious level and that's tough
How would you assess Kane Williamson and his captaincy so far?
Kane Williamson is finding his feet as a captain. I think back to when Stephen Fleming was starting to take control of the side and he came in with a very strong coach in Steve Rixon who groomed Fleming for control.
Once Rixon left, Fleming took over and ran the ship and the coaches supported Fleming. When McCullum took over the side, Hesson supported McCullum and McCullum was that strong figure and took the side in the direction he wanted and people followed him.
Williamson isn't at the point yet and he needs a strong coach. So Hesson needs to stand up strategically and start to take more of a say of the direction of the side and groom Williamson to become stronger and talk about it and bring other people in to help grow Williamson. Because when I look at the personalities in the side, there are no other options for captain so he's simply got to get better as a captain.
Are there question marks over Mike Hesson?
I'm not going to turn my back on Hesson just yet because I think he's achieved some good stuff and I like the way he operates. He's a quiet operator, he's a clipboard coach, does his figures, he operates in the shadows in the background and I think he has an element of respect in the side because of that.
I think he's hamstrung a little bit by the fact he has a young novice captain, he's got a great player but as a captain, Williamson is still finding his feet. So he's hamstrung a little bit by that and also, he needs cattle, a coach needs cattle to work with and at the moment, some key cattle is injured and there's probably not enough standing up for him coming into the side.
Do you think selectors have been bold enough in their selections?
Don't forget in the first Test that, some could argue that by the time the rain came, we were in front of the game, but they've performed badly in the second test. I do like that to be used as a motivation to lift the performance in the next one, to show that you've got the mettle so that’s why I'm not totally against them not making wholesale changes because I think this team should show the motivation to put it right which is what they have to do in the eyes of the people that follow the game in this country.
So I'm not too concerned about that. The next tour though I'd like to see some players and some changes made, a tour is a far better place than a one off test to start to tinker with the side.
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