David Leggat

An emotional Black Caps cricket coach quits and will leave big boots to fill, writes

Mike Hesson didn’t get 30 seconds into his statement before he felt the catch in his throat. He did get through it, but not without some difficulty.

Reading heartfelt, emotional words to yourself is one thing; quite another reading them out loud to an audience.

If you wanted to know what this day meant to him, there was the answer.

Hesson was pulling the pin on six years of what he called “24/7” devotion to the New Zealand job.

It caught his employers by surprise. New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White admitted senior figures tried to figure ways around Hesson’s decision to walk away.

He had encouraged Hesson to take breaks from a job which has had him on the road nine months a year.

But Hesson made it clear: he was in it 100 per cent or not at all.

Hesson said the decision had come to him recently in India. This was no slow burner.

It’s easy to imagine the scenario. His daughters, 11 and eight, haven’t seen much of dad through the developmental years.

Hesson had a year to run on his contract, through to next year’s World Cup. There’s a mountain of touring, planning and travel. Yet walking away from a contract which has meant so

much to him would would not have been easy.

“Sometimes, sitting in a hotel room by yourself, you get a bit of time to put things in perspective,” he said yesterday.

“I know what’s ahead in the next 12 months [leading up to the World Cup], know the demands of that. Then the world test championship. It requires potentially nine months in a row away from home. That’s just a bridge too far.”

Hesson’s stock is high. He will be

in demand but he’s in no rush to walk into another job.

And he has no doubts he has made the right decision. There will be no “what if” moments in the coming months.

“And that’s why I’m at peace with the decision. I think the Black Caps are in great hands. I’ve given six years of my life and loved every minute and it’s time for someone else to take the reins.”

He walks away with a better than 50 per cent winning record in all three