Wellington: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) general manager Geoff Allott described the Black Caps' unprecedented series loss to Bangladesh as a "hiccup" yesterday and insisted the team's fundamentals were sound.
Speaking ahead of an NZC board crisis meeting tomorrow to discuss the team's humiliating 4-0 whitewash in a one-day series against the cricketing minnows, Allott blamed New Zealand's batsmen for the loss.
"It was clear that some of our decision-making around our shots was not acceptable," he told Radio NZ, adding that the batsmen had repeated the same mistakes over and over.
"That's probably the biggest disappointment along with the hurt for the guys themselves."
Fear factor
New Zealand media have described the series loss as an all-time low for the country's cricket team and expressed fears it will face similar maulings during an upcoming Indian tour and at next year's World Cup.
Allott said changes were needed and he hoped the Bangladesh tour would act as a catalyst to spur on New Zealand's players. He gave no indication of how NZC was planning to respond to the loss and was non-committal when asked if coach Mark Greatbach's job would be on the line at tomorrow's tour post-mortem.
"All of us are responsible, we believe we've got the best players and the best structure at the moment to take the team forward to the World Cup," he replied.
"We've had a bad hiccup in the preparation for that goal, that's what we've got to immediately address." Allott was adamant the Black Caps could bounce back.
"We've been in similar situations in the past and turned it around fairly quickly, probably not as dire as it is at the moment but we have no alternative," he said.
Bangladesh players given cars, land
Bangladesh's national cricketers have been showered with gifts including new cars and plots of land in the smartest part of the capital Dhaka after the team's home series victory over New Zealand.
Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina hosted a reception for captain Shakib Al Hassan and his men late on Tuesday after Bangladesh recorded their first series win over a major opposition team with a 4-0 clean sweep of one-day internationals.
"It's a glorious accomplishment for the country. I'm so happy that I cannot express my delight," Hasina said as she handed car keys to players. "I was working and watching the last match on television. I could not hold my excitement when it all came down to four runs in four balls." Banks and big companies have also plied the team with gifts and cash prizes.