da imperador bet： New Zealand’s coach has presided over a dismal era, with no accountability
da bwin： Andrew McLean17-Nov-2007
John Bracewell: no results, no pressure © Getty Images
The differences between England and its one-time colony New Zealand arevast, whether it be the number of daily newspapers, modes of transport, size ofpopulation, or pertinently at present, the pressure on sporting coaches.Steve McClaren’s future as England football team manager hangs by a thread on onegame, the Israel-Russia Euro 2008 qualifier, which, ironically, England are noteven involved in. In the meantime the New Zealand cricket coach, John Bracewell,churns out one dreadful result after another, seemingly without any pressure oraccountability.Watching New Zealand’s batsmen crumble once more at Centurion was just toomuch to take. Bracewell has now had four years in the job and has produced verylittle by way of results. Over two Test series in South Africa, separated by 18months, we have seen the same scenario time and time again: New Zealand being foundhorribly wanting by pace bowling.There comes a time for change and in Bracewell’s case surely that time is now,particularly with back-to-back Test series (home and away) against England nextyear. The last time the teams met in 2004, New Zealand lost the three Tests atLord’s, Headingley and Trent Bridge, each time from a position of strength. Very little has changed since and it has not just been a matter of the away form highlighted by SRajesh.There have been wins at Dhaka and Chittagong, four losses in thenext five Tests (all against Australia), a 1-0 series win at home against Sri Lanka,a 2-0 result in Zimbabwe, a 2-0 victory in New Zealand against the WestIndies, a 0-2 loss in South Africa, a drawn home series against Sri Lanka, and nowanother towelling in the making against the rampant South Africans.Overall, the ledger is square: eight wins and eight losses. The problem is that thewins have come against lower-ranked sides, which leaves New Zealand currentlyfloundering in sixth place in the ICC Test rankings. As coach, it is surely timefor Bracewell to be held responsible for this predicament. Regrettably, JustinVaughan, the recently appointed New Zealand Cricket (NZC) CEO, has not bold beenenough to cut Bracewell loose.After the World Cup, Vaughan spotted that Bracewell had the final say on thefour-man selection panel. Fortunately this situation was promptly corrected. Theproblem is that Bracewell’s influence does not end with selection. He is also thecoach, charged with fine-tuning player performance and keeping them motivated.Bracewell has recently acquired specialist coaches to assist, including theAustralian Mark O’Neill as batting coach. Vaughan said this week that O’Neill hadto be given time to prove himself. This, however, avoids the real issue, whichis not O’Neill: Bracewell has overseen New Zealand’s dire run of form, and what’smore, there is a ready-made replacement available in John Wright, who is now on theNZC staff. Now Vaughan has stated that he doesn’t want Wright stepping on O’Neill’stoes.So what we have is an under-performing team with a slightly-tweaked coachingarrangement. This messy situation is all of NZC’s making. Getting rid of Bracewell isthe obvious answer, and there is a widespread belief in New Zealand that this is well overdue. Inevitably though, there will be plenty more pain before it becomes a reality, while theno-pressure situation for Bracewell remains.