Tuesday, 7 March 2006

Lou Vincent

The talk yesterday was that Lou Vincent talked his way out of the New Zealand side. John Bracewell made some comments on the selection of Hamish Marshall to open which were impolitic at best:

Lou continually said himself that he didn't see himself as an opener and would prefer to bat in the middle order.

We weren't prepared to play guys who were reluctant. As it happened Hamish Marshall was more than happy to play the role


Today Lou Vincent is distraught. Frankly I am not surprised. Of course Vincent was going to take Bracewell's comments as a slight on his commitment. To be honest I am dumbfounded that a coach could make such remarks. How are Vincent's old team-mates going to respond to the coach's criticism? By all accounts Lou is a popular player and a strong team player and I suspect their loyalty will lie with him rather than with Bracewell. How will a player like Nathan Astle - already shaken by his treatment by the coach - feel? If the New Zealand side is not already fractured, I believe it won't take much more poor man management for something to crack.

4 comments:

Karl said...

Mike, in some of the articles I've read, I've also seen some hinting that Glenn Turner is playing a major role in the selections. If you're a top-class NZ domestic player you've now got to be wondering about what would actually get you into the team. Quality players who have been chewed up and spat out (on many occasions) include Vincent and Mathew Sinclair. Craig Cumming and Michael Papps have to be wondering what's going on.

Anonymous said...

I agree Mike, this can't be good for the team spirit and everything.

I've always though Lou Vincent is very capable batsman, and it was a bit of dissapointment to see him keep coming in and out of the side so often, finally he seemed to have settled in nice, and now this. What's Bracewell's agenda? You reckon he might have some sort of personality clash with Lou?

Mike said...

I don't think Bracewell has anything against Vincent in particular, it is just that he doesn't seem very good at man-management. He was an abrasive cricketer, and now he is an abrasive coach.

Anonymous said...

This is bullshit. Bring back Steve Rixon.