Glenn Turner lifts the cover off NZ cricket

Turner, a former New Zealand batting star and captain from the 1970s, replaced sacked coach Jeff Howarth in 1995 and, in turn, was dumped at the end of the 1995-96 season.

He had been gagged by a two-year silence requirement set by New Zealand cricket’s ruling board.

but critics say not a lot has changed since Turner’s short-lived stint at the helm.

Turner, appointed as coach after the disastrous tour of South Africa in late 1994, relates at length his troubled relationship with key players such as MartinCrowe, Chris Cairns, Adam Parore, Danny Morrison and Shane Thomson.Cairns is depicted as the ultimate superbrat, delivering many a “volcanic performance” while on tour.

Turner said the team culture had gone bad: “In the parlance of the day, New Zealand cricket was suffering from an overdose of those who talk the talk but won’t, or can’t, walk the walk.”

New Zealand players and management have been advised by their lawyers not to comment on Turner’s book.

Those at the top do acknowlege, however, that there is a great deal of work to do.

“New Zealand cricket, it’s fair to say, is near the bottom of the international cricket ladder,” New Zealand Cricket (NZC) operations manager and former Test player John Reid told Reuters.

“The New Zealand side is less consistent at international level than we would like, but you can’t just dial a win. You’ve got to put a process into place in order to achieve an improvement in performance and that’s certainly what we’re trying to do.”

New Zealand moved offthe bottom of the Wisden cricket monthly World Championship Test cricket rankings in October, pipping Zimbabwe for last, but came last as a one-day side.

“The New Zealand side can compete,” Reid said. “I’m not a doom and gloom merchant.”