Mark Richardson: Fleming man for the job?

If you're the last man standing in a gun fight or a poker tournament, it suggests you have some skill or have been lucky.

If you are the last man in the race for the Black Caps' coaching job because the rest have lost interest, it certainly does not suggest you're the best man for the job.

That was the case when New Zealand Cricket (NZC) was looking for a replacement for John Bracewell and ended up with a choice of one Andy Moles.

So could we really have expected anything different than the situation we have now?

NZC has not moved to crush rumours that there has been an approach made by senior players to remove Moles. If the reason was a vote of no confidence and not a personality clash, then I applaud the players.

Public opinion will always go against them but it shows they care about their performance for New Zealand, that they feel they need better help.

The problem here is that they cannot necessarily expect to get better help. We are not the richest nor most desirable of cricket nations and thus are unable to attract the high flyers of the coaching world.

Who wants to take us on when you can make many times what we can pay in a month's work in the Indian Premier League or a high paying gig for a cricket super nation?

What we are left with is an up-and-comer or a run-of-the-mill coach on the merry-go-round. Moles looked like he was gaining experience and was upwardly mobile.

He had immediate success at Northern Districts but the following two seasons' results had flattened. These are the years I feel you should judge a coach.

Moles had not achieved better results than Bracewell in year one of the job and thus can we really expect improvement to follow?

If NZC wants to take the approach of selecting up-and-coming coaches then they must look very carefully or risk taking a punt.

Perhaps they would do better not to advertise the role but just target the ones they want - to avoid the scenario that may have occurred had they said no to Moles even though he was the final applicant in the race.

An international cricket team does not need a roll your sleeves up, get-in-the-nets type coach because most players have moved beyond this.

However, our team are not mature enough for a back-seat co-ordinator. What they need is someone with CEO-style skills but also with a highly tuned cricket brain.

What about Stephen Fleming? I know this would employ someone with no coaching experience but what would happen if you combined strategy, man-management and co-ordination?