The LRPL Era Begins

It's been made official. The man with a full name almost as long as that of Chaminda Vaas, the man who was thrust into the role of senior batsman during only his second full year with the national side, the man whose reliance on the cross-bat midwicket hoick has won fans and critics alike, the man who ended Shoaib Akthar's career at the World Cup, is now captain at the age of 27.

It took 84 days for NZC to make up its mind between Taylor and Brendon McCullum, with powerpoints and player inputs somehow being part of the process. Coach John Wright didn't entirely approve of the 'process', which seemed to carry the unmistakable stamp of John Buchannan. Could there be two more contrasting personalities in charge of NZ cricket than Buchannan and Wright?

On the whole, I'm OK with the choice. Those in Baz's corner have lamented that NZ have gone for the 'safe' option, where the younger McCullum apparently would have provided for a more up-and-at-em attacking approach. But Baz's contributions with the bat have not been what they should be, and it remains to be seen whether his success as a test opener is not a one-season thing. Taylor made a decent fist of captaining in Vettori's absence earlier in the year, so he rightly gets his chance.

Vettori had similarly taken over the captaincy after the 2007 World Cup, and had an extremely difficult start; several key players were retired or lost to the ICL, and his first assignment was a tough tour of South Africa in which NZ were thrashed. By contrast Taylor will be in charge of a side that is just starting gel together, and his first taste of test captaincy will come against Zimbabwe (though there is a two-test tour of Australia in December).

However, even if Dan will mostly be remembered as an average captain of a poor side (as David points out), his efforts in dragging NZ through the hopeless post-Fleming period are worth acknowledging. It's up to Taylor to build on that foundation.