Bracewell's contract extended despite poor results
John Bracewell's contract as New Zealand coach has been extended despite the team's poor recent results
02-Dec-2004
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"We have a huge amount of faith in him," Martin Snedden, the New Zealand board's chief executive said. "He has already shown he has the right ingredients by transforming the performances of the one-day team very quickly into a much better unit that it was beforehand. Now he has a major task ahead of him with the Test side."
Snedden admitted that the deal was agreed in April, but it only became public earlier this week when the board faced questions regarding Bracewell's contract after the Test defeat at Adelaide.
"One of the mistakes we've made in the past is that traditionally we have engaged coaches on a two-year contract," Snedden explained. "What that has meant is that after a year or so coaches start looking over their shoulders to see where they stand. It can actually be detrimental rather than beneficial for the team to have a guy operate in circumstances where in the first year he is getting used to the job and in the second he's looking over his shoulder wondering whether it's going to be his last."
Under Bracewell, New Zealand have improved markedly as a one-day side, with 18 wins in their last 21 matches. But their Test form has gone into freefall, with six losses in their last eight games. And Snedden agreed that was a worry.
"There were a lot of similarities about how we played in the series in Australia to how we played in England earlier this year. There are recurring issues that are of concern," he said. "We have to find ways of coping with the pressure points of Test cricket."
But he concluded by stating that he had every faith in Bracewell and Stephen Fleming. "They are very talented and are an excellent combination. These guys really just have to continue working, deal with the issues and find the solutions. We have to trust them to be able to do that."