Cricket: Vice-captain loses role

Brendon McCullum has been stripped of the vice-captaincy of the Black Caps.

The move is effective immediately, although no replacement will be appointed.

In fact, if Daniel Vettori were to break an ankle stepping off the plane in Abu Dhabi this week, McCullum would still be in contention, and probably favourite, to captain the side.

The reasons for McCullum's demotion are complicated. But it is not any one incident.

There is a suggestion convenor of selectors Glenn Turner was uncomfortable with the power wielded by captain Vettori and McCullum, as witnessed by last week's evisceration of coach Andy Moles. Some sources suggest it was felt McCullum dominated the dressing room too much.

However, a well-placed source said McCullum was effectively sidelined from the decision-making process on the tour to Sri Lanka in August, and his role in Moles' downfall was overstated.

New Zealand Cricket's Justin Vaughan said a decision was made that there was no absolute need for a second-in-charge. Instead they want to see several senior players, like Kyle Mills, Shane Bond and Jacob Oram, take a more active leadership role.

"Brendon being Brendon, he will lead," Vaughan said. "That's his nature. At the moment he needs to be focusing on several areas but primarily that is around fulfilling his potential with the bat."

McCullum said when contacted by the Herald on Sunday: "It's disappointing, obviously, in many respects but the fact is I can now concentrate on my roles of scoring runs and keeping wickets.

"I still have some fairly big goals I want to achieve for New Zealand, including the captaincy, and this has not changed that."

McCullum was seen as the natural heir apparent to Vettori, and was endorsed by the man himself in this newspaper back in January. At the NZC awards dinner on Thursday night, Vettori said it was still his desire to relinquish the captaincy after the 2011 World Cup, but softened his tone, opening the way for a change of heart.

McCullum has been no stranger to headlines this winter and this may have counted against him continuing as Vettori's deputy. His name was front and centre when the story broke that six players had delayed signing their New Zealand Cricket contracts until they received clarity around how much of the third edition of the IPL they would miss.

This was poorly received by the public who felt the players were holding the schedulers to ransom ahead of this summer's tour by Australia.

The six players who delayed signing were, with the exception of Jesse Ryder, senior figures in the team, yet the spotlight fell squarely on McCullum, particularly after he was singled out by IPL commissioner Lalat Modi as one who was trying to "exploit a loophole" to make himself available for all of the IPL. This story was later dampened down by Vaughan.

McCullum is managed by former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming and although Fleming was aware of developments, decided to maintain a diplomatic silence.

The news is another sign that all has not been well inside the Black Caps camp in recent times. Apart from an against-the-odds run to the Champions Trophy final, the results have been poor, particularly in the test arena.

Dissatisfaction has festered - McCullum is another victim of that.