Opinion: Black Caps selectors playing musical chairs because of lack of faith in top batsmen

Banking on Black Caps captain Kane Williamson isn't the problem because every team use a core cluster of players as the cornerstone of their campaign. Photo/AP

Whoever goes on to lift the silverware in England this Sunday will have the hollow feeling of ... and the "raining" Champions Trophy cricket champions of 2017 are ...

Three games so far in the tournament have come down to the dodgy Duckworth-Lewis Method and two have been deemed "no result" with Australia featuring in both before packing up and leaving for home.

Acts of terrorism aside, it appears ICC need to give some serious thought to all the variables likely to disrupt tournaments before awarding hosting rights.

Not one of the participating countries threatened to pull out of the tourney due to fears of safety as opposed to previous years when touring sides pulled the plug sometimes well before boarding their flights.

England must be excused for feeling like they are asking for middle and leg on foreign soil owing to the legions of fans from the subcontinent invading stadia where India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka were playing.

But all of that, as well as the early exit of Australia and perennial underachievers South Africa, should not detract from why the Black Caps limped out of the elite eight-nation competition.

You somehow get the feeling the no result against the Ockers in Birmingham on June 2 was a blessing in disguise for the New Zealand men.

The Mike Hesson-coached side lost by 87 runs to the Poms in Cardiff, Wales, and then crumbled by five wickets to Bangladesh at the same venue three days later to remain winless.

With the spotlight on the British and Irish Lions rugby tour of New Zealand and the Louis Vuitton Cup yachting as Team New Zealand earned the right on Tuesday to challenge Oracle for the America's Cup, it's easy to lose sight of why the Kiwi cricketers have come up shy again.

By no means is it a choke of the 34th America's Cup proportions but it warrants accountability.

The reliance on captain Kane Williamson is understandable because every team uses a core cluster of players as the cornerstone of their campaign.

If veteran Ross Taylor, another batsman who shows consistency, was looking humdrum in his contribution then maybe Hesson can shed some light on why.

Was it, in hindsight, wise to take Taylor out of the Twenty20 international equation?

Even if the jury is still out on the impact the Indian Premier League (IPL) may be having on the limited-overs format, there's an argument on keeping the Central Districts Stag in the T20 loop where top batsmen are showing 300-plus totals can be chased down with a proper mental and tactical approach.

Bangladesh 's victory, for argument's sake, wasn't a fluke because on May 24 they beat the New Zealanders, albeit a mostly different side, by the same margin at Clontarf, Ireland.

In fact that game raises selection questions. Should so much emphasis be placed on previous summers or instead on blokes who are putting up the numbers on the scoreboard when it matters.

Tom Latham scored 84 runs from 92 balls and fellow opener Luke Ronchi two runs from five balls against the Banger Boys in the trophy clash.

Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham, in the middle order, looked anaemic and so did everyone else below them.

Are the Black Caps guilty of focusing too much on recruiting allrounders who are specialists in neither batting nor bowling?

Anderson and Neesham were the most expensive bowlers in that game in their wicket-less efforts of five and four overs, respectively.

Is it again time to pick your 7-4 split of specialist batsmen who can yield runs and bowlers who can promise frugality, if not wickets.

Why take veteran spinner Jeetan Patel on tour if you're not going to employ him in the Champions Trophy?

Patel, a two-time top bowler in county cricket and familiar with the English-type wickets, sat on the sideline with Latham and allrounder Colin de Grandhomme.

Coaches have changed in this country but the lack of faith in tweakers remains entrenched.

Should you gamble with a veteran wicketkeeper (Ronchi) who may get lucky opening batting on an elite stage or bank on a young opening batsmen (Latham) producing the runs and who also will be the future of the team as a wicketkeeper, much like an allrounder.

Let's face it, the reason why Hesson and co are playing musical chairs with bowlers is because of their lack of faith in the top-order batsmen.

It seems strange that, for all of opener Martin Guptill's glorious statistics, the team are prepared to overlook - season in, season out - his inability to provide a solid platform to post a decent innings and yet not accommodate Latham's mini-slumps.

For all the ra-ra about releasing players for the IPL where they are supposedly improvising shots and building confidence to go after deliveries, it comes as a shock that Guptill was the only one to score a six.

If exiting a tourney prematurely is the primary concern then why be scared of injecting fresh players such as Tom Bruce, George Worker, Glenn Phillips and others of that ilk who have put their hands up in white-ball cricket.

Falling back on a perceived sense of "greatness" from the 2015 ODI World Cup here no longer cuts the mustard.