Re: The Black Caps: Ongoing problems still persist with inflated egos, and worst of all players even believe their own spin and it all makes one want to find a corner to hide in. It's about time these perennial underperformers at test match level recognised with their paucity of talent, technical skills and other deficiencies including a failure to face reality with only one team game plan that this is a catalyst for failure.

Most alarmingly, however, they lack bottle and fight when the going gets tough; and after all, it is how you lose that is often so important. We hear the usual hype every test cricket series - as opposed to One Day Internationals - and I for one am over it. This bunch simply don't know how to perform or win test matches when it matters - unless they fluke it - and they deserve all the public flak they get for regular sub-par performances.

There is probably only one batsman and a couple of bowlers of international calibre in the team, the new captain with poor recent performances seems bereft of a game plan and looks shell-shocked, as does the coach. Cricketers of yesteryear, who were never mollycoddled or paid obscene sums of money to underperform, must shake their heads in disbelief.

S Paterson, Matapihi.