I've calmed down enough now to make my case for Taylor.
To me, Taylor comes across as a calm, measured bloke with a quiet steel to him. He isn't going to shout about how great he is, but he is going to get in there and do the job. He backs his players - witness him talking up Doug Bracewell before the Australian series - and keeps the faith. I'd be very disappointed if Bracewell is in this "bullish end of the bowling attack" because a more conservative captain would not have kept the faith through Bracewell's inconsistency considering the bowling depth we have. Taylor also doesn't come out and whinge about the players he is given by the selectors, which Vettori was prone to on occassion (remember when Martin was dropped and Vettori gave Gillespie the rope to hang himself with against Gayle?).
Taylor is no tactical genius. He isn't awful, and rotates his bowlers well, ensuring they get enough rest between spells and he backs his bowlers to get the wickets, but he doesn't have that spark as a tactician either. For a captain in his first year, this is hardly surprising. Fleming wasn't a genius from the get-go, and despite Vettori being Fleming's understudy for years he was also just an okay captain.
However, Taylor does lead by example. I listed those innings before - time and again he comes in at 2 for nothing (guess who contributes to those two fallen wickets so often?) and is required to score a ton. Taylor is often the only reason we post half decent totals, which is another reason for whichever bowler it is to sit down and zip it.
I can't see inside the changing room, but I'd be pretty surprised if Taylor is an arse to his players. There has not been a single bad word said about the guy before he became captain, and there still hasn't been. There has not been a single rumour that Taylor is abusive, socially ******** or arrogant, and these things have a way of getting out. All we know is Hesson and McCullum are two peas in a pod, McCullum wants to be captain, and Hesson asked Taylor to step down before the test series just gone. As was said earlier, Taylor telling Hesson where to go is the single piece of leadership we have seen in this entire debacle.
As for his results, I think the wider public forgets that under Vettori we were D-I-R-E. Yes, Vettori has less able players barring two certain individuals (one of whom stood up and did the job and the other didn't), but we didn't turf him based on results despite him being to that side what Taylor is to the current side. Taylor has two overseas victories to his credit and he was man of the match in one. Outside Bangladesh Vettori beat no one overseas.
As for McCullum, well it is hard to judge his captaincy when he hasn't captained the side consistently yet. He has had to show his abilities as a leader in other ways. He certainly hasn't been a leader with the bat, and by the sounds of it in the dressing room he's been stirring the pot. Who knows, maybe he's been going to the Daniel Flynn's and Kane Williamson's and helping them in the nets. Maybe Taylor took one look at Franklin's bowling gaining about 30kph after that wicket in the first test and called him a ****ing milksop lazy ****. McCullum has lead the side a few times in ODIs and hasn't wowed me with his tactics, in fact I think we lost, and to top it he captained KKR for a reasonable length of time and they sucked.
The media has reported Taylor has lost the backing of the senior players. First of all, what senior players? The average age of the side is 14. The only players remotely senior are Taylor, McCullum, Vettori and Martin. Guptill has 30 odd tests so lets throw him in that group as well. That's a pretty small group. I'd love to hear some names, rather than the cowardly backstabbing we have at present. The rest of the side doesn't exactly scream politics either. Okay, maybe Southee, Bracewell and Wagner have outspoken personalities but they seem happy to abuse batsmen rather than team mates. Williamson and Flynn give off a no bull**** air so who is in which camp exactly?
I don't know, I just thought that after a test win in Sri Lanka that maybe they could all do their bit for the good of the team going forward but no, it's back to kindy again. How this lot expect the public to support them when they turn around and kick their fans in the nuts over and over again is beyond me.
That didn't exactly end as a calm post did it? Oh well.
