NZ backlash over Taylor

THERE were calls for New Zealand cricket administrators to resign yesterday over the sacking of top batsman Ross Taylor as captain, while new skipper Brendon McCullum denied any role in the dismissal.

Former captain Martin Crowe and New Zealand's largest daily newspaper, New Zealand Herald, asked those responsible for Taylor's dismissal, and the way it was handled, to step aside.

"This week the game in New Zealand has been severely damaged. Permanently, I believe," Crowe wrote on the cricinfo website. "Those directly accountable should go, simply as rightful punishment."

In an editorial, the Herald described New Zealand Cricket as a rudderless ship and said "Taylor has become the latest poster-child for the high-performance dysfunction in our national summer game."

McCullum's promotion on Friday, ahead of the Black Caps' upcoming tour of South Africa, ended months of speculation about Taylor's future since ex-Kenya coach Mike Hesson took over the reins of the New Zealand team in July.

McCullum said any suggestion that he was involved in a coup, and of a rift between himself and Taylor, was untrue. "I had absolutely no involvement in it whatsoever," he insisted.

Email Story    Printable View    Blog Story    Copy Headline/URL