Wright gains more support for top job

Martin Snedden, the former New Zealand Cricket chief executive, believes John Wright must be installed as the team's coach following the removal of Andy Moles. Wright, the country's high-performance manager, has been mentioned whenever the side has had a vacancy at the top, but has never done the job.

"I'm going to put my hand up and say John Wright's time is now, he would be great," Snedden told the Dominion Post. "Right at the heart of this is John Wright has the know-how. So much of what he brings is required. The skill of batting, the passion, he was so nationalistic as a player, we need that right now."

The options for New Zealand have been reduced after the Australians Tom Moody and Greg Shipperd said they were not available. Stephen Fleming, the former captain, has also ruled himself out. However, Steve Rixon, who has held the post before, is interested in a reunion.

"The timing is quite good," he said. "I think that the job that needs to be done is very similar to the job that had to be done in 1997 and the challenge is appealing. They need to get back to simple basics, be more disciplined and possibly look at the make-up of the side."

Wright spent four years with India and has been the high-performance manager for two years without showing the necessary interest in another full-time international role. "There is talk of perceived shortcomings - if that's the case you cope with that," Snedden said. "It is far better to have a coach with John Wright's skills and know-how than someone else who might have that [an ability to organise] and very little else.

"Currently our batting is a problem. We have the raw talent with guys like Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder and Tim McIntosh, but they are still to learn the skills how to survive. John has all of that knowledge and the desperation."