NZ board call meeting with former captains to douse controversy

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will meet with former skippers in a bid to improve communication within the national set-up in the wake of the controversy surrounding the handling of Ross Taylor's demotion from the captaincy.

Taylor was stripped of the one-day and Twenty20 captaincy this month at the recommendation of head coach Mike Hesson following their tour of Sri Lanka and the disgruntled batsman then turned down an offer to continue as test skipper.

Former players criticised NZC for the controversy, forcing the board to make a public apology to the cricketer, who made himself unavailable for the South Africa tour.

Taylor's absence and the unavailability of former skipper Daniel Vettori due to injury meant that opener Brendon McCullum, another former captain, was handed the reins of the team.

"Former captains will be invited to attend the meeting which is intended to be an annual event designed to provide quality input from both the former captains and the players who were part of their era in cricket," NZC said in a statement.

"NZC has reached the conclusion that there was obviously misunderstanding and miscommunication between the parties involved," the board's Chief Executive David White said.

"We've already acknowledged mistakes were made on this issue and we have learned from those mistakes. Team management has given an undertaking to improve communication and to ensure nothing similar occurs again.

"The board and management of NZC make that same commitment. NZC believes it now serves no useful purpose to further rake over the events of the captaincy change. It is time to draw a line under the issue."

The Black Caps will open their campaign in South Africa with a T20 game in Durban on Friday. The tour includes two tests, three ODIs and three Twenty20 matches.