Ross Taylor likely to be shafted from the captaincy?

[Zinzan]

 

[Meridio]

If this is true...I almost hope we do get smashed by SA. Because it would be the most stupid, petty, moronic, gormless, childish, gutless, short-sighted, self-destructive bit of administration in NZC history, an organisation that already has a gold medal in such events.

 

[_Ed_]

Radio Sport bulletins now reporting Ross will refuse to tour when stripped of the captaincy today.

Can't blame him at all, but it's absolutely crazy if we let this happen.

 

[Bahnz]

Yup a number of sources are now saying that Taylor will likely miss the whole South African tour as an absolute minimum.

So we're now about to play the best side in the world without our two best test batsmen, Taylor and Ryder.

At times like this I suppose all you can do is laugh.

 

[Zinzan]

At times like this I suppose all you can do is laugh.

Ind33d. Nice avatar btw, however you can't see the knife in Taylor's back from that angle

 

[Bahnz]

You can't see it coz McCullum's so talented at being a ****.

Seriously, if this is true then any remote chance of a surprise in SA is gone now. The common thread in New Zealand's 4 test match victories over the past 5 years has been Taylor making runs. Taylor averages just under 70 in matches NZ have won (not counting Bangladesh), scoring 2 centuries and 4 50's. You'd think NZC would value a player like that, but then what do I know? By comparison, in the same 4 matches, McCullum averaged under 25.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when New Zealand suffers two hefty defeats in SA. McCullum and Hesson have done themselves no favours by doing this in such an unsavoury way. The public (as recent internet polls have shown) are very much against them, and only strong performances will placate them. Wouldn't be surprised to hear McCullum get booed every time he comes out to bat this summer.

 

[Zinzan]

From a purely selfish POV, I'm hoping like hell the likes of a Martin Crowe gets in Taylor's ear about not making the rash decision of not touring at all. Crowe was of course in a similar situation many years back with Rutherford and then decided to just concentrate on being the best test batsman he could be. One could hardly blame Taylor if he does spit the dummy, but I'm hoping sanity prevails and at the very least we have our best batsman playing in SA.

 

[Zinzan]

You can't see it coz McCullum's so talented at being a ****.



It'll be interesting to see what happens when New Zealand suffers two hefty defeats in SA. McCullum and Hesson have done themselves no favours by doing this in such an unsavoury way. The public (as recent internet polls have shown) are very much against them, and only strong performances will placate them. Wouldn't be surprised to hear McCullum get booed every time he comes out to bat this summer.

Problem is even if we do suffer two hefty defeats, Hesson & NZ cricket will simply claim they played the best team in the world in their own backyard, so one couldn't expect anything else.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Problem is even if we do suffer two hefty defeats, Hesson & NZ cricket will simply claim they played the best team in the world in their own backyard, so one couldn't expect anything else.

They couldn't claim that if Taylor doesn't end up touring. What odds on the SOS going out to Jesse Ryder if Taylor makes himself unavailable?

 

[GGG]

From stuff

"Taylor lacks support from a core of senior players who back McCullum, while Hesson and McCullum are close friends."

Umm who in our current team qualify as seniors? Guptil and Southee?

 

[SteveNZ]

The argument I'm hearing sporadically of 'McCullum may thrive in terms of run-scoring with the captaincy' is rubbish. If his own standards and his country meant anything to him, he'd get on and score runs anyway. Like Ross does.

Can anyone think of one of those gay Brangelina names for Hesson and McCullum? Messon has a ring to it

 

[Zinzan]

From stuff

"Taylor lacks support from a core of senior players who back McCullum, while Hesson and McCullum are close friends."

Umm who in our current team qualify as seniors? Guptil and Southee?

Haha exactly, they've all been around for 5 mins

 

[SteveNZ]

That's pure guesswork, and it's wrong. Ross is very good friends with Guppy, and he's probably the next most senior guy in the Test side. The likes of Vettori, Mills might be on Brendon's side but they're on the outer.

And isn't a captain's job to be slightly out from the crowd with the ability to make the tough calls and not be too much of a chum and create his own cliques?

 

[Zinzan]

The argument I'm hearing sporadically of 'McCullum may thrive in terms of run-scoring with the captaincy' is rubbish. If his own standards and his country meant anything to him, he'd get on and score runs anyway. Like Ross does.

Agree, McCullum has always been at his best batting with a free license. As test captain, I can only envisage him prodding, poking and being all out of sorts trying to bat to protect his wicket. So we may not only lose our best batsman in Taylor, but also set McCullum to play a style of game he's not suited for.

Go NZ cricket !

 

[Zinzan]

Can anyone think of one of those gay Brangelina names for Hesson and McCullum? Messon has a ring to it

McCumson?

 

[Zinzan]

What odds on the SOS going out to Jesse Ryder if Taylor makes himself unavailable?

You're in Wellington aren't you Heef, go turn on the old charm would ya

 

[straw man]

And isn't a captain's job to be slightly out from the crowd with the ability to make the tough calls and not be too much of a chum and create his own cliques?

Absolutely. So even if we give a points decision to McCullum for 'tactical nous', that's only one side of captaincy. Nothing worse for a young guy coming into a team than to find it's dominated by cliques and that other guys get ahead or retain their spots by being drinking buddies with the right people.

 

[Blain]

We don't know about how he runs the side off the pitch. By all accounts he is quiet and keeps to himself a bit. McCullum is probably the guy who takes charge off the field, dishing the sh*t etc. Apparently Taylor and Hesson don't see eye to eye, is this soley on a personal level due to Hesson wanting to give away the captaincy? We don't know.

Taylor seems a decent captain on the field imo, hardly anything to be worried about (like our batting).

This is a totally over the top reaction for our crap form tbh, and the outcome of it is going to be the worst to come out of it. That is a divided dressing room and potentially the lose of our best batsmen in Taylor.

NZC picked the worse time for this to happen, just when they were starting to look a little more promising. Their PR is ****.

 

[Bahnz]

The likes of Vettori, Mills might be on Brendon's side but they're on the outer.

I'm sorry, while I agree with most of your post, you're just wrong on this. You're kidding yourself if you don't think that Vettori will walk straight back into the team once fit. Also, he's an institution of New Zealand cricket, and his opinion would count for a lot.

As for Mills, the guy may suck in t20's, but he's still been our best odi bowler over the last 6 years, and has a guaranteed spot in the team.

 

[straw man]

That's pure guesswork, and it's wrong. Ross is very good friends with Guppy, and he's probably the next most senior guy in the Test side. The likes of Vettori, Mills might be on Brendon's side but they're on the outer.

So we reckon Guptill and Bracewell may be in the Taylor camp? Time for some complete speculation which is probably totally wrong:

Guptill and Bracewell were both 'rested' from the Sri Lanka ODI series. Convenient. Taylor felt 'isolated'. Overseas so perfect place for Hesson to apply some pressure to Taylor. Guptill and Bracewell also played poorly in the tests - affected by disunity within the team?

Who's benefited since Hesson arrived? Franklin has reappeared for one. Secondly an inordinate amount of faith placed in Oram in the T20 world cup - surely part of the Old Boys' network if there is one.

Anyone else I'm missing?

Reckon I could write for a low brow gossip mag.