WELLINGTON — Fired captain Ross Taylor has accused New Zealand Cricket (NCZ) of misrepresenting the circumstances of his dismissal, further inflaming a row overshadowing New Zealand preparation for their tour of South Africa. Reuters AP
Accounts given to the media by Taylor, NCZ chief executive David White and national coach Mike Hesson differ widely, leading Taylor to say in a radio interview yesterday that Hesson and NZC’s versions are untrue.
White and Hesson say Taylor was asked to remain as Test captain but relinquish the captaincy, of the New Zealand ODI and Twenty20 teams to Brendon McCullum.
Taylor disputes that claim. Asked yesterday whether someone at New Zealand Cricket was lying about the offer of the Test captaincy, Taylor replied “definitely.”
In an increasingly bitter dispute being played out in the full glare of the media, the parties only agree that Taylor learned that he was to be stripped of the captaincy four days before last month’s second Test against Sri Lanka.
Taylor was visited in his hotel room in Galle, Sri Lanka, by Hesson, New Zealand assistant coach Bob Carter and team manager Mike Sandle.
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The differing versions of what happened at that meeting have become the cause of continuing bitterness between Taylor and NCZ.
Taylor says Hesson made it clear he had lost confidence in his leadership and he would be dismissed as captain in all forms of the game once the second Test had been played.