Mike Hesson opens up on New Zealand's captaincy debacle
Former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson opened up on the infamous captaincy debacle of 2012. He believes asking urging Ross Taylor to pass on the baton to former skipper Brendon McCullum was a controversial, yet right decision. In 2012, Taylor stepped down from captaincy in all three formats to make way for the latter. Here is more.
"It was definitely the toughest time. I keep going back to the reasons why I coach and many times I ask myself at night am I making the decision for the right reasons. Because I think it's going to make the team better?" added Hesson.
Hesson feels despite taking the tough call, the situation could have been handled in a better manner. "It was a really untidy time. But I don't regret the decision. I certainly regret the fallout from it and the way people felt throughout it. I still think it was the right decision. Could it have been done better? Of course it could have," he said.
Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum were the obvious candidates for captaincy role after Daniel Vettori stepped down as the New Zealand skipper. Eventually, Taylor was handed the charge. New Zealand cricket began to plummet under him and hence he was sacked after a year. As a result, McCullum took the charge across formats. Following McCullum's retirement, New Zealand cricket improved further under Kane Williamson.
Hesson added that it was a difficult period for whole New Zealand unit. "I have a lot of empathy for what Ross went through and it was a really difficult time for the whole team. And we also had people within the environment being a little bit snaky around it as well in terms of trying to play both sides," he stated.
After winning the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in 2011, New Zealand lost three consecutive series to South Africa, West Indies and India respectively. Although they managed to draw one with Sri Lanka, Taylor had to bear the brunt. It was also reported that Taylor had some issues with Hesson. Under McCullum, New Zealand cricket scaled new heights, including a successful (2015) World Cup campaign.
