Cricket: Coach didn't support me - Taylor

Former captain says he was told in a meeting that he wasn't good enough to lead New Zealand.

Ross Taylor (right) says he and Brendon McCullum are
teammates, and he supports him. Photos / Getty Images

Ross Taylor has revealed the depth of his relationship breakdown with coach Mike Hesson in an exclusive interview with the Weekend Herald on the day he relinquished the reins of the national team.

Yesterday details emerged of a meeting between Taylor, Hesson, assistant coach Bob Carter and manager Mike Sandle before the first test in Galle last month.

"They told me I wasn't good enough as a captain, wasn't good enough for this team," Taylor said. "To hear I wasn't good enough was disappointing. It was interesting."

At the end of the hardest few days of his career, Taylor, 28, released a dignified statement confirming he had declined New Zealand Cricket's offer to be test and tour captain of New Zealand. He claimed that having a split captaincy would lead to "confusion" within the squad. In a subsequent interview with the Herald, he provided context behind his decision.

"I was offered the test captaincy a couple of weeks (after the Sri Lanka meeting), when it was clear to me from conversations, they didn't want me at all."


Taylor said he had become aware his position was becoming tenuous.

"It wasn't huge shock. Hesson never supported me through the whole time I'd been captain, but I was surprised by the timing."