Local boy Ross Taylor is now at the top of New Zealand cricket's batting order.
As the new captain he will now have the weight of expectation thrust upon him like never before.
But by all accounts, if there is a man who can carry that weight, it isRoss Taylor.
Taylor is, by all accounts, a quiet achiever.
In an interview with our sports reporter Gary Caffell just last week, Taylor was particularly circumspect about his chances of being named captain.
"We'll just wait and see what happens, I don't want to say anything more than that," he said at the time.
And even he recognised that being the stand-in, as he was during the recent World Cup, for example, was significantly different to having the role on a permanent basis.
"Being a stand-in doesn't have the same pressures - there are a lot of extra responsibilities for whoever has the job fulltime," he told our reporter.
There is every reason to expect Taylor to profit well from the captaincy, and not just in financial terms.
His performances have improved while filling in for Vettori.
Taylor himself acknowledges that he's probably batted better when captain.
Let's hope that continues to be the case.
Taylor is this region's first senior national sports captain since Brian Lochore was All Black captain in the 1960s.
We can only hope that he builds an equally impressive record as Sir Brian's.
