Volts coach looks to future

OTAGO coach Rob Walter arrived in Dunedin two years ago with the priority of lifting the performance in the firstclass competition.

But a raft of highprofile departures and changing priorities has forced a rethink.

Walter has been left facing a busy winter recruiting after former international allrounder Jimmy Neesham joined the list of experienced players to walk away from Otago when he confirmed his move to Wellington earlier this week.

Neesham’s decision follows the departure of Black Caps leftarmer Neil Wagner, who has transferred to Northern Districts.

Experienced Otago batsman Neil Broom has retired from firstclass cricket to concentrate on the limitedover formats and longserving wicketkeeper Derek de Boorder has pulled out of the contracting process to focus on life after cricket.

Combined, the four have played 455 firstclass games. Replacing that kind of experience was always going to be a challenging task, but it appears Otago has accepted it will be unable to find qualified candidates and is going in another direction — development.

‘‘You are always going to have periods where experienced players move on or stop playing,’’ Walter said.

‘‘The key is to make sure the next in line are ready.

‘‘We’ve had guys working really hard for opportunities to play. Josh Finnie two seasons ago averaged 40 in Plunket Shield cricket but unfortunately struggled with injuries this season.

‘‘It will be good to see him get a run of opportunities. A guy like Josh TasmanJones has worked really hard to get two opportunities across two seasons, so perhaps this is his time.

‘‘And then you’ve got your local guys like Cam Hawkins, who has been a standout [at club level]. There is the younger crew from the under19s who we need to invest in to make sure we get them ready for professional cricket.

‘‘More than anything else I’m pretty excited about where we are. We’ve been pushed to looked at these guys in the coming seasons, especially in the longer format.’’

Walter said New Zealand Cricket viewed the Plunket Shield as the best place to ‘‘blood’’ new players.

While firstclass cricket remains the best measure of a player’s ability, the twenty20 tournament is the marquee event.

‘‘It is a change in focus to make sure we are in alignment with New Zealand Cricket and will mean a larger focus on success in the twenty20 and using the Plunket Shield as an opportunity to grow our less experienced cricketers.’’

The Volts get to ‘‘hit the refresh button’’ and build towards future success. It has been 30 years since Otago won the firstclass competition, so change now may have a positive impact downstream.

That said, the departures are likely to cause fans considerable angst and add more fuel to suggestions it was not a happy camp.

Walter felt Otago was going through a ‘‘natural evolution or cycle’’ rather than an exodus which reflected poorly on the culture of the side.

Neesham, who is viewed by some insiders as a negative influence, left with Walter’s best wishes.

‘‘Last season we probably saw the best and worst of Neesh from a cricketing point of view.

‘‘He struggled a little bit towards the start, but came back well after the break and pretty much impacted every game he played in, to be fair.

‘‘He is a quality player and I really hope for his sake, and for New Zealand cricket, that the move really ignites his best cricket because I have huge faith is his ability.’’

A The Otago Cricket Association board will meet tonight to discuss the findings from the independent review into the season. Those findings are expected to be made public later this week.