The new Black Caps coach, Andy Moles, has already started making changes to his side in preparation for the upcoming series against the West Indies, starting in Dunedin this Thursday.

The biggest change sees opening batsman Aaron Redmond dropped for Tim Mcintosh, who has been in good form over the past few seasons for Auckland. Mcintosh has already had a taste against the West Indies in the three day warm-up game for Auckland, where he scored 78 against the visitors.

Redmond has failed to set the cricketing world alight, and will join the likes of Craig Cumming, Michael Papps and Matthew Bell, who have all tried and failed at the top of the order for the Black Caps.

The pressure will certainly be on Mcintosh to score plenty of runs this summer, or he could find himself joining the ever growing pile of failed Black Caps openers.

The other changes come in the bowling department, where Mark Gillespie and James Franklin will return to the squad. Their selection comes at the expense of Tim Southee and Chris Martin. Southee can feel a little hard done by, but we're sure we haven't seen the last of him - especially when you consider the amount of time Gillespie has been given a chance and failed.

Martin, who for a while now has been considered our best bowler (at least since Shane Bond left) only has himself to blame for his axing. While he isn't in the team for his batting, the fact is that he is a liability when he comes out to bat - and it means that the Black Caps are effectively 1 down before they even walk out there. He can't be trusted to score a single, let-a-lone hit a boundary off the last over if required - and until he learns how to hold a bat properly, it's unlikely he'll be selected any time soon.

Come on, Martin - it's really not that hard to at least swing the bat.

Without having to jump in the air.

At yorkers.

The last change sees the return of Jacob Oram, who was sorely missed against the Aussies. Oram injured his back in the Tour of Bangladesh, and was forced to miss the two Tests in Australia. But he has been back playing for Central Districts, and more importantly he has been bowling plenty of overs, which is a good sign.

The West Indies won't be easy, and it's going to be interesting to watch Chris Gayle send the ball over the boundary at the University Oval in Dunedin, which has possibly the smallest boundaries in Test cricket. They will certainly be entertaining to watch, and with the likes of Sarwan and Chanderpaul in their lineup, the Black Caps will have to be on top of their game to come away with a win.

Let's just hope the weather in Dunedin can clear up, and we can get five days in without rain.

Fantastic news for New Zealand cricket fans, as a new coach has been named to replace the departing John Bracewell. Northern Districts coach, Andy Moles, will replace Bracewell after the final Test in Adelaide in a few days time. This is welcome news for all those who felt Bracewell should have gone a long time ago - and yes, we are certainly in that group.

Bracewell was originally scheduled to leave at the end of the New Zealand Summer, but has decided it would be best to leave after the two-Test series against the Aussies - which we think is the best decision Bracewell has made in his time as coach.

The Black Caps have failed to make any improvements in their game under Bracewell, and while we still rank in the top 4 in One Day cricket, we haven't made a serious attempt at challenging for that top spot. As for Tests, we seem to have gotten worse as time has gone on - and our batting can only be described as atrocious.

Andy Moles was an opening batsman, and hopefully he can come in and teach our top order a thing or two about staying at the crease. He has plenty of potential to work with, but we'll just have to wait and see if he can get the best out of them.

The one thing he has said he will do is make the players accountable for their performances, which is something Bracewell has never done. Just think back to how long Hamish Marshall was kept in the team, despite being in the worst form of his life. If the players aren't performing, then they need to face the consequences. We've said it a million times before - there is potential by the bucket loads, but for some reason the players just aren't producing the goods.

Barrack Obama said it best - "It's time for a change". And, while he probably wasn't talking about the Black Caps (we don't think), the saying fits nicely.

Moles has a hard task ahead of him, but if he's given the right support fro New Zealand Cricket and, most importantly, the players themselves, we don't see any reason why he can't lift the Black Caps out of the mediocre, and into one of the best teams in the world.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.