Paul Lewis: Power play fascinating

Player power in the Black Caps could rise to new heights if the players successfully lobby for a manager, rather than a coach, to replace Andy Moles.

As Andrew Alderson's story (see p86) outlines, this is a move far away from the traditional selectors-coach-captain axis. If it comes off, it will not only usher in a new era for New Zealand cricket, it will confirm for many the absolute political power of one Daniel Vettori.

Some were quick to jeer when the Black Caps lost so demonstrably to Pakistan without a coach in the first one-dayer in Abu Dhabi; before they clearly won the second.

The two results therefore seem to prove absolutely nothing when it comes to whether an international cricket team needs a coach on board or not.

Shane Warne tried to demonstrate that international cricketers do not need a coach to teach them how to play with his joke that the only coach the Australians needed was the one they rode to the stadium.

Warne was by some distance the best bowler these eyes have ever seen but he could have used a coach in matters of life, tactics and subtlety - so he didn't appear quite so much to have the IQ of a goldfish.

His point is debatable. Players may not need a coach when everything is going well - as it did for so long for the Australians - but it can be a different story in other circumstances.

Many are interpreting what we are seeing with the Black Caps as a political coup by Vettori, now by far the most powerful individual cricketer in our history.

The move towards a manager - by definition someone less able to influence on-field matters - would cement further the role of Vettori and of senior players ahead of administrators.

It's a thorny issue for New Zealand Cricket. How far do they go down the Vettori road without ceding absolute power?

There are hooks for Vettori in all this - and there was more than a hint of them after that first loss to Pakistan. Vettori would have felt he had fashioned a very sharp stick for himself to sit on after his part in Moles' removal.

That pressure will continue to be piled on him while he is selecting the side, captaining it, bowling and rescuing the batting, as he so often does. After his promotion to selector, the Moles move and demotion of Brendon McCullum, he is battling a public perception that the Black Caps are his team; that he has total control.

That's not to say Vettori was wrong in his Moles manoeuvres. It's just that he has potentially made himself a bed of nails. If you deep-six the coach you thought wasn't doing the business, then the natural inclination is to expect progress in results. If not, you cop it.

We'll need time to see if Vettori can carry the load. But now NZC have a real issue on their hands. The spectre of cricket politics - has there ever been a sport so shrouded in that misty murk? - looms large. Whoever is coach (or manager) will presumably need the Vettori seal of approval.

Meanwhile, two hats been thrown into the ring with a heavyweight thud. Duncan Fletcher, the Ashes-winning coach of England and currently consultant to South Africa, is technically adept, a disciplinarian and a man-manager.

British newspapers are saying money could be a problem - he's been used to something like £300,000 a year (NZ$685,000) and that could be a bit too rich for NZC. Really? Surely not in these cashed-up days. Fletcher could be worth pushing the boat out for. He has been linked with the development of Jacques Kallis, one of the best-performed all-rounders of all time, and opener Herschelle Gibbs, among others.

The impressive part of Fletcher's involvement with Gibbs was that he encouraged the South African's free-wheeling, unorthodox style rather than trying to change it, as many coaches would.

Gibbs hasn't always come off - but he's scored more than 6000 test runs at an average of over 41, with 14 test centuries. His one-day record is similarly impressive: over 8000 runs at an average of 36, with 21 tons and 37 50s.

When the Black Caps ditched Moles, word was they needed someone to lift the players to a new level - particularly world-class players such as McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Shane Bond and Vettori. If that's still the goal, someone like Fletcher seems a must, although he's not the only possibility.

Our own John Wright is said to be up for the job but the smell of politics is high here. There have already been been leaked reports that not all senior players are enamoured of Wright's style, even though he successfully coached India between 2000-2005.

Even Vettori was quoted as saying Wright would be useful, although maybe not as head coach. Wright - or anyone - would be foolish to take on such a job without full buy-in from his charges.

The best definition I have seen of a coach was: 'All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself.' Kallis recently said Fletcher (acting as a consultant) twice picked technical flaws causing Kallis a loss of form and helped him change his style for the shorter versions of the game.

Two heads are better than one, particularly when one of them isn't taking the field and has a different, objective perspective from those who do, including the captain.

If this coach-less situation persists and the Black Caps don't win, Vettori will inevitably be in the way when the poo is flung. Just what we need: our best player under even more pressure.

NZC need to take in hand the bits of anatomy normally covered by a batting box, pay to secure a credible coach, and solve the political puzzles - so Vettori's honour is protected but where he has to work in with someone who knows what he is doing and who can add value that Vettori can't. It could be a fascinating struggle.