By Greg Pearson
Mike Hesson has only been in the role of BlackCaps head coach for less than a month.
That has not been enough time for a net session, or to even meet some of his new players.
But the new coach believes there is enough time to make changes ahead of a brief tour to India.
“Once we get together as a group we’ll look to do that,” Hesson says. “Talk to players individually, not in much detail but a little bit about their own games, but the first few days in India will be critical to that.”
After a demoralising tour of the West Indies, top of Hesson’s agenda is getting the players back into the right headspace.
“We want to be able to get some confidence back in the guys,” Hesson says. “We know results-wise it wasn’t a great tour so obviously confidence can fluctuate and then you start to doubt yourself. It’s important we give the guys some confidence, give them the core skills to get that confidence and let them play.”
Helping Hesson achieve that is Bob Carter, returning to the international fold after a previous stint assisting John Bracewell. The former Canterbury coach can see differences in the team since then.
“There's fewer senior players than there was at that time, so I think one of the briefs is to bring the younger players and the senior players together more, they obviously are together but it would be good to see them play together as a team,” Carter says.
As batting coach, Carter knows he faces a tough challenge, but his goal for the top order is clear.
“Well I’d like to see them score 400 in a test match, that would be really good, and then I’d know we can be competitive.”
With the first test less than a week away, the two coaches won't have to wait long to see if they can be.
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