How will Vettori be remembered as a captain?
Mark Richardson in the Herald on Sunday : Vettori's captaincy has been during a large conundrum
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Mark Richardson in the Herald on Sunday: Vettori's captaincy has been during a large conundrum. To win Test matches with the resources available cried out for adventure and speculation - but the resources (in the bowling department especially) also pointed at containment as the best and only way. Really, how adventurous can you be when eight times out of 10 you don't have enough runs to play with anyway?
Geoff Howarth, Jeremy Coney and Jeff Crowe had Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe; Stephen Fleming had Chris Cairns, Dion Nash, Shane Bond, a settled top six and importantly Vettori at a time when his body allowed him to spin the ball. Vettori, however, has never had Bond enough, a top six often in disarray, a lack of penetration and all too often only himself to put the skids on both when batting and bowling.
The rationale behind Jamie How's selection as back-up wicketkeeper to Brendon McCullum in the New Zealand World Cup squad was so surreal last week, and aroused criticism, writes Andrew Alderson in the Herald on Sunday.
To How's credit, he didn't bluff. He admitted he hadn't done any keeping since his days at the New Zealand academy at Lincoln. He also did the honourable thing, saying he'd give it his best shot - as you do when the selectors could be listening. Yet he still sounded bemused at the prospect of standing behind the stumps in a tournament-defining encounter with a backyard level of experience.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo