Wright must improve New Zealand’s ‘cricket smarts’: Richardson

AUCKLAND - New Zealand’s new coach John Wright must ‘crack the whip’ and ask his senior players including captain Daniel Vettori to focus on their own performances, former batsman Mark Richardson has said.

“The biggest challenge for Wright will be to improve the team’s cricket smarts. We know the senior players are capable of more and are the catalyst for good performance in the team, but they continue to make poor decisions,” Richardson wrote in an article for the New Zealand Herald.

“All the talent is there in the batting line up, it’s just a matter of how to get it to shine more often.”

“Somehow Wright achieved that with India, admittedly a better canvas to work with, but it comes down to the same principle … an attitude shift,” he added.

Richardson further believes that Wright must retain the Black Caps’ coaching structure to build a strong team ahead of next year’s 50-over World Cup.While Wright appears to want a simple structure, less cluttered with specialist coaches and consultants, I can’t imagine he professes to knowing everything about batting, bowling and fielding,” Richardson wrote.

“But he may know plenty about creating a winning culture. That is what he appeared to create in India. There he had a team that could have easily been torn apart by egos and player resistance, but he got India working together, playing well and fighting hard,” he added. (ANI)