McCullum opens up on captaincy rift with Taylor

AGENCIES, WELLINGTON: Brendon McCullum has written of the uninspiring leadership of Ross Taylor and how the tension and mistrust during his captaincy left the New Zealand team on the verge of imploding. In his book Declared, McCullum has devoted a whole chapter to “the coup that wasn’t”, describing in some detail Taylor’s failings as a captain and the circumstances that led to the souring of their relationship, and clarifying that he had no role to play in the axing of Taylor as captain.
The captaincy switch from Taylor to McCullum in 2012 is one of the more bitter chapters in New Zealand’s cricket history. The timing of the fresh revelations could not have been worse, with Taylor struggling for form on New Zealand’s tour of India. The team, too, has had a tough tour, having lost all three Tests and the first ODI by the time the book was released on October 20. Since then, they won one ODI and lost another, with Taylor’s drop of Virat Kohli in the third ODI costing New Zealand 148 runs and arguably the match. NZC’s manager of public affairs Richard Boock told the New Zealand Herald that Taylor has seen media reports but is not “rushing out to find a copy” of the book.
After Daniel Vettori gave up captaincy following the 2011 World Cup, Taylor edged McCullum as the next captain after a “public” process in which both of them were asked to present their cases. In the book, McCullum speaks of not being satisfied with that process, and of how the public nature of rejecting one of the candidates was not good for “our relationship, or any team with the two of us in it”.
The cracks first appeared on the West Indies tour of 2012. McCullum had been rested for the limited-overs leg of the tour, but an injury to Taylor meant he was sent an SOS to lead the team. This was also the last assignment as New Zealand coach for John Wright, who was struggling to forge a good working relationship with John Buchanan, director of cricket at NZC. McCullum made it to the West Indies in time for the third ODI, but he was told Kane Williamson, who had captained in the first two, was going to continue leading for the sake of continuity. McCullum didn’t play that game, but his introduction later made little difference as New Zealand won just one ODI on a tour of two Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is.
“Either Ross was highly resistant to my captaining the team and leant on Wrighty to change his mind, or it was just an organisational cock-up by Wrighty,” McCullum 
writes in Declared. “The rest of the tour suggested the latter, because much of it was a shambles.”
Like Taylor, Wright comes out in poor light, but the appointment of Otago’s Mike Hesson as new coach widened the cracks in the relationship between McCullum and Taylor. In McCullum’s estimation, Hesson was seen as his mate whereas Wright hadn’t been seen as a big fan of McCullum. In the book, McCullum reveals he had actually recommended Australian Matthew Mott despite knowing his friend Hesson was in the fray.
McCullum feels that with Hesson’s appointment, Taylor withdrew further; he had, according to McCullum, already been burdened by Wright’s failings as coach.
“It seemed to me that, right from the start, Ross was suspicious of Hess’s motives,” McCullum writes. “So instead of taking Hess on his merits, Ross seemed already closed to him. I knew there had been a bit of talk behind the scenes after Hesson’s appointment, and that some were seeing a conspiracy.
“It wasn’t a very complicated scenario they were pushing: that my mate Stephen Fleming had influenced the selection board to give the coaching job to my other mate Mike Hesson, whose ultimate goal was to replace Ross as captain with me. One problem with that narrative was that I had recommended Matthew Mott to the selection panel, but details like that tend to spoil a good conspiracy theory, and as events unfolded, it was clear that logic would play an ever-diminishing role.”
McCullum still felt that Hesson tried to help Taylor revive his captaincy career and the sinking team, which had by now lost both the Tests in India too. “Time and again on what became a long grind of a tour, with changes of format and players around the core group coming and going, Mike set 
up a lot of meetings as a group, trying to provide the perfect forum for Ross,” McCullum writes. “Wrighty had never done that for him—the only opportunities Ross got to talk to the team would be during emotional moments in games, when he’d start yelling and shouting.
“At these meetings, Mike would canvass everyone’s thoughts, and then try to hand it back to Ross to synthesise what was out there, tell us the way he wanted to go forward, put his stamp on it. All Ross had to say was, ‘Thanks lads, that’s awesome and this is the direction we’re going based on your thoughts. I’m the skipper, this is what we’re doing and I need you all to buy into it.’
“Ross would say nothing. Not a word. What the hell was he thinking? I had no idea.
“Ross is a reasonably trusting guy in most circumstances, so someone must have been telling him to watch his back. Whatever, he put the shutters up against Hesson. A quiet guy at the best of times, going further into his shell didn’t help—he’d surface with angry outbursts, instead of a coherent plan.”
Matters only got worse as New Zealand spiralled from one bad performance to another. They finished last in the Super Eights of the World T20 in Sri Lanka, and stayed back for a Test series where they were expected to lose again. McCullum writes he and a lot of his team-mates became frustrated over the lack of leadership. He says Taylor’s “outside” support group seems to have told him all he needed to stay on as captain was to score runs, and that that was all Taylor focused on. He says many a player asked him to speak to Taylor because they felt they 
couldn’t approach the captain directly, but he stayed away from doing so because he didn’t want Taylor to feel his players were ganging up on him.
“I got caught in the middle of the situation of a captain who wouldn’t talk to his coach or his team,” McCullum writes. “I was keeping my powder dry in the team environment, trying to be the supportive vice-captain, but behind the scenes I became increasingly frustrated as I watched the Black Caps spiral downwards.”

McCullum opens up on captaincy rift with Taylor

AGENCIES, WELLINGTON: Brendon McCullum has written of the uninspiring leadership of Ross Taylor and how the tension and mistrust during his captaincy left the New Zealand team on the verge of imploding. In his book Declared, McCullum has devoted a whole chapter to the coup that wasnt, describing in some detail Taylors failings as a captain and the circumstances that led to the souring of their relationship, and clarifying that he had no role to play in the axing of Taylor as captain. The captaincy switch from Taylor to McCullum in 2012 is one of the more bitter chapters in New Zealands cricket history. The timing of the fresh revelations could not have been worse, with Taylor struggling for form on New Zealands tour of India. The team, too, has had a tough tour, having lost all three Tests and the first ODI by the time the book was released on October 20. Since then, they won one ODI and lost another, with Taylors drop of Virat Kohli in the third ODI costing New Zealand 148 runs and arguably the match. NZCs manager of public affairs Richard Boock told the New Zealand Herald that Taylor has seen mediareports but is not rushing out to find a copy of the book. After Daniel Vettori gave up captaincy following the 2011 World Cup, Taylor edged McCullum as the next captain after a public process in which both of them were asked to present their cases. In the book, McCullum speaks of not being satisfied with that process, and of how the public nature of rejecting one of the candidates was not good for ourrelationship, or any team with the two of us in it. The cracks first appeared on the West Indies tour of 2012. McCullum had been rested for the limited-overs leg of the tour, but an injury to Taylor meant he was sent an SOS to lead the team. This was also the last assignment as New Zealand coach for John Wright, who was struggling to forge a good working relationship with John Buchanan, director of cricket at NZC. McCullum made it to the West Indies in time for the third ODI, but he was told Kane Williamson, who had captained in the first two, was going to continue leading for the sake of continuity. McCullum didnt play that game, but his introduction later made little difference as New Zealand won just one ODI on a tour of two Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is. Either Ross was highly resistant to my captaining the team and leant on Wrighty to change his mind, or it was just an organisational cock-up by Wrighty, McCullum writes in Declared. The rest of the tour suggested the latter, because much of it was a shambles. Like Taylor, Wright comes out in poor light, but the appointment of Otagos Mike Hesson as new coach widened the cracks in the relationship between McCullum and Taylor. In McCullums estimation, Hesson was seen as his mate whereas Wright hadnt been seen as a big fan of McCullum. In the book, McCullum reveals he had actually recommended Australian Matthew Mott despite knowing his friend Hesson was in the fray. McCullum feels that with Hessons appointment, Taylor withdrew further; he had, according to McCullum, already been burdened by Wrights failings as coach. It seemed to me that, right from the start, Ross was suspicious of Hesss motives, McCullum writes. So instead of taking Hess on his merits, Ross seemed already closedto him. I knew there had been a bit oftalk behind the scenes after Hessonsappointment, and that some were seeing a conspiracy. It wasnt a very complicated scenario they were pushing: that my mate Stephen Fleming had influenced the selection board to give the coaching job to my other mate Mike Hesson, whose ultimate goal was to replace Ross as captain with me. One problem with that narrative was that I had recommended Matthew Mott to the selection panel, but details like that tend to spoil a good conspiracy theory, and as events unfolded, it was clear that logic would play an ever-diminishing role. McCullum still felt that Hesson tried to help Taylor revive his captaincy career and the sinking team, which had by now lost both the Tests in India too. Time and again on what became a long grind of a tour, with changes of format and players around the core group coming and going, Mike set up a lot of meetings as a group, trying to provide the perfect forum for Ross, McCullum writes. Wrighty had never done that for himthe only opportunities Ross got to talk to the team would be during emotional moments in games, when hed start yelling and shouting. At these meetings, Mike would canvass everyones thoughts, and then try to hand it back to Ross to synthesise what was out there, tell us the way he wanted to go forward, put his stamp on it. All Ross had to say was, Thanks lads, thats awesome and this is the direction were going based on your thoughts. Im the skipper, this is what were doing and I need you all to buy into it. Ross would say nothing. Not a word. What the hell was he thinking? I had no idea. Ross is a reasonably trusting guy in most circumstances, so someone must have been telling him to watch his back. Whatever, he put the shutters up against Hesson. A quiet guy at the best of times, going further into his shell didnt helphed surface with angry outbursts, instead of a coherent plan. Matters only got worse as New Zealand spiralled from one bad performance to another. They finished last in the Super Eights of the World T20 in Sri Lanka, and stayed back for a Test series where they were expected to lose again. McCullum writes he and a lot of his team-mates became frustrated over the lack of leadership. He says Taylors outside support group seems to have told him all he needed to stay on as captain was to score runs, and that that was all Taylor focused on. He says many a player asked him to speak to Taylor because they felt they couldnt approach the captain directly, but he stayed away from doing so because he didnt want Taylor to feel his players were ganging up on him. I got caught in the middle of the situation of a captain who wouldnt talk to his coach or his team, McCullum writes. I was keeping my powder dry in the team environment, trying to be the supportive vice-captain, but behind the scenes I became increasingly frustrated as I watched the Black Caps spiral downwards.