OPINION: While it might seem like the right time to sharpen the knives for Kane Williamson as captain, the Blackcaps' issues are actually much deeper than those in charge of the team.
This year, any hopes of New Zealand repeating their achievements of 2021 - when the team won the World Test Championship and reached the Twenty20 World Cup final - have plummeted like a lead balloon.
A historic test defeat to Bangladesh in January, then failing to close out a first test-series win over South Africa were just a sign of things to come. Halfway through this World Test Championship cycle, only Bangladesh rank below the reigning titleholders.
Two marquee (for want of a better word) bilateral series - a test tour to England and Chappell-Hadlee one-day series against Australia - have seen the Blackcaps return home 0-6.
As is usually the case in sport, change should come from the top down. The only problem here is that simply swinging the axe in Williamson's direction wouldn't actually change a whole lot.
An elbow injury suffered at the start of 2021 has reduced the Kiwi skipper to a shadow of his former self. That Australia series, where he scored 89 runs off 185 balls, showed something still isn't right with one of the world's premier batters.
And while Williamson has always been prolific scoring runs behind the wicket, his over-willingness to do so during the England series suggests he may still be struggling with that same elbow injury - reluctant to push out in front of his body.
Suggestions across various platforms point towards taking Williamson out of the spotlight as captain to allow him to concentrate on what's best for him, rather than what's best for the team.
Would removing the captaincy actually restore him to his best as a batter? The short answer is no.
While Williamson boasts a career average of 52.62 runs in test cricket, that number goes up to 57.43 when playing as captain. That trend is the same in ODIs - a career average of 46.96 improves to 48.53 when skipper.
While some great players are weighed down by the expectation and pressure of leadership, Kane Williamson isn't one of them.
Workloading is a problem for Williamson. Of all the players that captained their teams to the 2019 World Cup, he is the only one still in charge of his team today.
What's more, he's one of just four players to captain his country in all three formats, as well as leading Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
Tom Latham stands as the most probable replacement, if Williamson were to relinquish the role, but - with the greatest of respect - he doesn't have the same tactical nous nor does he play all three forms of the game.
A Latham-led team might take some of the heat off their best player, but it would be no guarantee to improve results.
That said, Williamson's struggles are indicative of what's actually wrong with the Blackcaps - batters not scoring runs.
Ross Taylor's retirement earlier this year has left a bigger hole than many predicted and despite his initial promise, Devon Conway has not filled it - yet.
Kiwi fans have been genuinely spoiled for most of the last decade, including a test championship crown, three World Cup finals and countless series wins.
In reality, we are now at the end of the Blackcaps' Golden Age. The World Test Championship victory was no fluke, but it was an anomaly.
If world cricket's current hierarchy remains in place, Australia, England and India should win global tournaments for the foreseeable future.
New Zealand have been fortunate to have four players - Williamson, Taylor, BJ Watling and Trent Boult - who walk into our all-time XI, and another handful - Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Brendon McCullum and Latham - who'd be in the conversation.
Taylor and Watling have retired, while Boult is on the way out, after walking away from his NZ Cricket contract. At 36, Wagner's career has more yesterdays than tomorrows and 33-year-old Southee could soon follow.
And despite the success of players like Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell in international cricket this year, they're also both on the wrong side of 30.
New Zealand cricketing sides have always been worth more than the sum of their parts, but at the moment, if Williamson isn't scoring runs, the rest of the team follows.
But to blame all the current struggles on the form of the captain - and the coach too for that matter - is somewhat naive.
The Blackcaps are confident that a big score is "around the corner" for their captain, and the law of averages suggests the exact same.
No, 2022 won't be a year for Kane Williamson to look back fondly on but he has more than enough credit in the bank.
Let's not forget, form is temporary, but class is permanent.
Alex Powell is a Newshub Sport digital producer
