Cricket: Black Caps coaching candidate pulls out

Paddy Upton. Photo / Getty Images

South African Paddy Upton, one of the candidates to be the next New Zealand cricket coach, has today withdrawn from contention.

Upton was yesterday revealed by the Herald on Sunday to be on the shortlist of four applicants in the running to take the reins from John Wright when he steps down following the completion of the Black Caps' Caribbean tour.

But the former Indian and current South African mental conditioning coach ruled himself out of the running, leaving Mike Hesson, Matthew Mott and Trent Woodhill still in the frame.

"Clearing speculation. After being invited to apply, I've withdrawn as candidate for NZ head coach job,'' Upton wrote on his Twitter account.

Upton would have been an unusual hire. The 43-year-old played just two first class matches for Western Province before being recruited by business partner and then-Indian coach Gary Kirsten and eventually following Kirsten into the Proteas' set-up.

In his CV on his website, Upton lists achievements including sleeping in a tent while working as a fishing guide on a remote Mozambique island for three months, and co-authoring The Beer Drinkers' Guide to Losing Weight.

Upton's withdrawal leaves former Otago and Kenya coach Hesson, former New South Wales and current Glamorgan coach Mott and current New Zealand and Delhi Daredevils assistant coach Woodhill to face another round of interviews this week.

The candidates have already been interviewed twice by a panel consisting of NZC chief executive David White, director of cricket John Buchanan, board member Rob Hart, New Zealand Cricket Players Association representative Stephen Fleming and High Performance Sport New Zealand chief executive Alex Baumann.

The selection panel wants to confirm a candidate by July 25, giving Wright's successor a month before assuming control of the Black Caps' tour of India.