 Greatbatch was already a New Zealand selector before his new role |
Mark Greatbatch has been appointed New Zealand team coach in place of Andy Moles, who left the post in October. Greatbatch, 46, who is also a team selector, had been working with captain Daniel Vettori since Moles' departure. He will be in charge of developing batting but Vettori will still have a major say in selection and tactics. New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said they had looked at "a number of high-profile international options" before choosing Greatbatch. "We consulted widely about how we progress the current unit without upsetting the current leadership momentum within the team," he added.  | 606: DEBATE |
"Over the past 12 months the Black Caps team, under the captaincy of Daniel Vettori, has made significant advances in terms of developing a culture of individual accountability. "I know Mark is strongly supportive of the way the team has progressed and will complement Daniel well." Moles resigned after a year in charge, duing which time they drew four Tests and lost three and were beaten in 10 out of 19 one-day internationals. Moles admitted his position was "untenable" after he became aware that some senior players had lost confidence in his ability as a coach, and that things might have been different if he had been made aware of the problem earlier.  Moles has endured a difficult time since taking over as coach |
"Over the 11 months that I've been around I had no inkling, no communication that there were problems until we got back after the Champions Trophy," he said. "If I had got some feedback earlier, we may have been able to quell this problem and been aware of it." But Vaughan said "categorically" that he had not been forced out by player-power. Greatbatch's first task as New Zealand coach will be to prepare the side for a series of limited overs games and one Test against Bangladesh in February, before Australia arrive on tour.
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