Ross Taylor may quit captaincy

New Zealand are scheduled to play two tests, three T20Is and three ODIs against South Africa by mid December and it seems that they may be playing under a new captain on the tour.

Taylor seems to be sharing a bitter relationship with coach Mike Hesson and the Black Caps have experienced a terrible year, barring the series leveling victory at Colombo. New Zealand have lost 10 of their last 13 ODIs, and have slipped to ninth in the ODI rankings, below Bangladesh. They have also tasted test series defeats against South Africa,West Indies and India and got knocked out in the Super Eights of the World T20.

The Black Caps skipper tweeted today morning to bring on more speculation to his post.

A lot of speculation out there. I have heard from the CEO once. I haven’t made any decisions. At no time have I given NZC any ultimatums about Hesson or Me or South Africa.
— Ross Taylor (@RossLTaylor) December 5, 2012

Meanwhile, ESPNcricinfo has quoted that all-rounder Daniel Vettori has been ruled out from the series, as he has not recovered from Achilles’ injuries and hernia, that had kept him out of action in the sub-continent tests.

The absence of the former skipper makes Jettan Patel the primary spinner, while Todd Astle could also be given chances to stake his claim in the team.