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Departing high performance manager Ric Charlesworth says New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has long identified first class batting as a serious weakness in the game here.
The batting collapses that marred both of New Zealand's humiliating test losses in South Africa this month didn't come as a surprise to
Charlesworth, who is to leave his two-year post to take up a role with Indian hockey.
Charlesworth said the problem would take time to resolve, with NZC having already poured ample resources and strategies at it during his tenure.
"A couple of test matches against a very good team in difficult circumstances has highlighted it to everybody but we in New Zealand Cricket have been aware for a long time, we don't have quality, sustainable batting and that's the area where we are most deficient," Charlesworth told Radio Sport.
Australian Mark O'Neill had been appointed as a specialist batting coach, while a winter programme had been set up, along with an expansion to the under-19 and A programmes to expose and improve the best young players.
Charlesworth estimated it would still be five years until the results of the programmes bore fruit.
A hallmark of Charlesworth's methods - seen when he was the Australian women's hockey coach - has been to instigate pressure on every player for their position, thereby inducing maximum output from even senior members.
He suggested that culture still hasn't been taken far enough and that the attitude of elite players needed to imporve.
"We have to be very ambitious. We want to be world class, not just playing for New Zealand," Charlesworth said.
"Because there's not a competitive environment around the team, then there isn't quite enough hunger and the work ethic that there needs to be.
"The question has to be asked of some of those players - do we prepare well enough?
"(Former opener) Mark Richardson was an example of a player who wrung every ounce of talent out of what he had and performed admirably at test level.
"I'm not sure that we're doing that at the moment with every player at that level."
New Zealand have just one player, Stephen Fleming, who ranks in the top 25 batting world rankings in both test and one-day cricket.
It meant the Black Caps had an obvious weak point for opponents to exploit at test level, Charlesworth said.
"We need a critical mass of outstanding players in that team, not just one or two," he said.
"If you had to have 100 players playing international cricket, we'd struggle.
"But you only have 11 in a team, so we have enough talent to produce an outstanding team.
"We've lost some very good test players in the last couple of years and that hurts you in the short term but there's some very good talent who will eventually be competing for New Zealand."
- NZPA