Moles disappointed by lack of feedback

Andy Moles has expressed his disappointment at a lack of feedback over the perceived shortcomings that led to his resignation as New Zealand's coach today. Moles walked away less than a year into his tenure, following a review of the team's performance in recent months.

His departure came two days after news reports that senior players were dissatisfied with the level of support Moles was providing. He said it had been a privilege to coach the national side but he was disappointed at a lack of communication that contributed to his exit.

"Let me be very clear, it is the players' team, they are the most important thing," Moles told NZPA. "It is unfortunate that it [coaching deficiencies] wasn't raised before and that will be looked at, I'm sure, by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) going forward.

"If I had got some feedback earlier, we may have been able to quell this problem and been aware of it. Obviously we'll never know because the feedback wasn't forthcoming."

New Zealand have played seven Tests without a victory since Moles took over but his last act as coach was to guide the team to the Champions Trophy final earlier this month. He said that his relationship with the captain Daniel Vettori remained strong despite the outcome of the NZC review.

"He confirmed to me that we had an excellent relationship, those were his words, and he's really sorry that it's ended up like this," Moles said of Vettori. "It's in the best interests of the team so that they can move forward and I can get on doing what I'm going to do."

NZC's chief executive Justin Vaughan has vehemently denied that any players were plotting the demise of Moles and said it was simply the result of a typical post-tour review in which players and support staff provided their opinions. However, Moles said it was important that his successor be strong-willed enough to handle the role.

"They need a coach who's going to be really forceful and a guy who perhaps will be allowed to come in and run the show by himself," Moles said. "The most important thing is that Dan Vettori must really believe in the new bloke... and they must work closely together.

"Hopefully as close as Dan and I did but obviously with a different type of chemistry to his coaching. Obviously my brand of coaching wasn't the type of coaching that these players desired and I understand that. All coaches in the world are different. [John] Bracewell operated differently to what I did and [Steve] Rixon did."

New Zealand's one-day squad flies out early this week for a series against Pakistan in the UAE. There will be no head coach for the trip and a replacement for Moles, who was contracted for two more years, might not be found until early next year.