'Dynasty' is a bold term and one New Zealand Cricket can never claim to have had. The 1980s gifted a tremendous era in which fans have since wallowed, but it was principally led by two great players, Sir Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe, and reinforced by a wily band of professionals in a largely amateur era.
Similarly, successes during 1999-2003, a period which boasted the talents of Stephen Fleming, Chris Cairns, Mark Richardson, Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori, provided a further false dawn.
A true dynasty requires replenishment across generations. Australia have done it largely since Allan Border and Bob Simpson rebuilt their side as captain and coach in the mid-1980s. They won the 1987 World Cup and defeated England 4-0 in the 1989 Ashes; waves of extraordinary players have since been ushered through under the captaincy of Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and
Michael Clarke. They have faltered few times since, outside a patchy three years from October 2010-October 2013, when they lost a couple of Ashes series and were twice defeated away against India.
Similarly the West Indies, from March 1976 until February 1995, lost two of 36 test series with a perpetual battery of fast bowlers and fearless batsmen. One was against India during the disruptions of Kerry Packer's revolution in 1978; the other was against New Zealand in 1980.
New Zealand cricket stakeholders must seize the current momentum from the players' association to major associations to voluntary levels of the sport in clubs and schools.
New Zealand's small size is an advantage on one hand. Each stakeholder can, with co-operation and compromise, create a relatively united front working towards a similar goal. They don't have to deal with the agendas of 18 counties in England, the mind-boggling number of players and administrators requiring appeasement in the Indian system or the struggle for control among 11 sovereign states and five dependencies in the West Indies.
The flipside is New Zealand has fewer players to tap into for the purposes of talent identification. NZC's high performance arm needs to work assiduously with the major associations to ensure the best players are targeted for maximum assistance.
This might mean rather than throwing resources at a wide net of under-19 players each year, only a handful are given full financial assistance. That correlates more closely with the number who make it at international level from any national age group side.
They should be identifiable, as long as thorough criteria and wise eyes like those of national selector Bruce Edgar monitor the situation.
It also seems prudent that any player about to embark on an international career and sustain New Zealand's current standards must experience a variety of cricketing cultures as a youth, from India to Australia to England. They need to be adept in a cross-section of conditions, but particularly in those of the International Cricket Council's Big Three, where performances on future tours will become crucial. Leaving future players to adjust solely on international tours seems risky.
One respite is if more investment is secured on the back of the current goodwill, such conundrums and the competition for resources will start to be alleviated.
NZC is about to embark on a fascinating journey. The next few years will reveal whether the systems put in place by coach Mike Hesson and captain McCullum turn the key in the lock to sustained success or are merely something to reflect on fondly in another generation when the World Cup returns south. Leveraging off the status quo is paramount.
Top three
How can New Zealand capitalise on their World Cup successes?
1. Seize on the chance to maximise investments on the back of the current goodwill and alleviate some of the competition for limited resources.
2. Narrow the focus on talent identification; invest more in fewer players, but the absolute best players.
3. Any player about to enter the international arena should, ideally, already be adept in the conditions of India, Australia and England.
Four current New Zealand sporting dynasties
1. The All Blacks (2008-present)
Any team boasting an 87 per cent winning record (84 wins, two draws and 11 losses) across 97 tests since 2008, including a World Cup and five Southern Hemisphere rugby titles, has set the sort of formidable benchmark which justifies rugby as the national sport. Under Steve Hansen from 2012, this record blooms to a 90 per cent winning record (38 wins, two draws and two losses). The team's overall winning record in 112 years of
test rugby is 76 per cent.
2. Bike NZ track programme (2008-present)
New Zealanders in velodromes have never been as consistent since Mark Elliott took over as high performance manager in June 2007. There were two medals at each of the Beijing and London Olympics (as well as Sarah Walker's BMX silver). To put that in context, New Zealand had two track medals in the 28 previous Olympiads. Add 23 world championship medals since 2009, including four gold, as evidence of a pedalling revolution.
3. Rowing New Zealand (2005-present)
It began with four world championship gold medals in 45 minutes at Gifu, Japan, although some would argue the catalyst came from Rob Waddell's single sculls gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, or Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindells' double sculls gold at Athens in 2004. The national rowing squad has generated 60 world championship or Olympic medals, including 30 gold, since the twins' feat.
4. Equestrian Sports New Zealand (2010-present)
Led by Andrew Nicholson's five crowns, New Zealand riders have won seven of the last 13 Badminton, Burghley or Kentucky four-star events, which form the sport's grand slam. Add in team bronzes at the 2010 World Games and 2012 Olympics and the rise of Jock Paget, Jonelle and Tim Price and you have a legacy in the making. Arguably it extends back to the 1984 Olympics, when Sir Mark Todd won eventing gold on Charisma.
