The Black Cap's poor series in Bangladesh is a worrying sign, especially when you consider the Summer ahead.

And the fact that they're staring down the barrel of a Test loss.

And the fact there's still a Test to go.

Hmmmm.

The Black Caps will face Australia in two Tests and five ODIs (all in Australia), two Tests and five ODIs at home against the West Indies, and the same again against India - not to mention several Twenty20 matches in between.

This is by no means an easy Summer's schedule - in fact, it will be one of the toughest in recent years.

If the ODI series (and quite possibly the first Test match, the way it's going) against Bangladesh is anything to go by, then get ready for a long Summer - because if we play like this against Australia, West Indies or India then we're going to suffer some pretty heavy defeats.

One of the major problems for the Black Caps is that we have a coach, John Bracewell, who has already announced he will be retiring at the end of the Summer, rather than just stepping down now. We feel Bracewell should have been shown the exit at the end of the World Cup, but instead he was retained, and things have continued to go down hill.

New Zealand Cricket should have stepped in when the worrying signs began. We've lost some of our best players during Bracewell's time in charge - Nathan Astle, Craig MacMillan, Shane Bond, Lou Vincent, not to mention Stephen Fleming - all of whom are clearly not done playing cricket, as they all continue to play in the Twenty20 leagues in India.

Obviously there is something that the public are not being told, because we don't buy for one second that these guys left because they were finished with International cricket. Sure, they may have been getting towards the end of their playing days - but they could easily have played on for another few seasons.

I can't wait to read Craig MacMillan's book - we'll finally be able to hear about how the players really got on with Bracewell. From what we've heard, he rips into Bracewell's coaching style...

If only the players actually spoke about these matters at the time, rather than waiting a year or two.

The other problem for the Black Caps is that we've got really talented batters batting out of position. Former Black Cap Simon Doull made a comment about how Brendon McCullum should not be opening the batting - especially with Jesse Ryder at the other end. We, for two, agree - McCullum is far more useful batting at six or seven, where he will be more likely to win us games.

The only times he's won us games opening the batting has been when we've had to chase miserly totals of around 120, where he could go out and swing the bat at everything without any real pressure on him. He's certainly not at his best when he's left to set a total - although for that matter, none of the Black Caps are. McCullum should be batting down the order, where he can close an innings - similar to the way Chris Harris used to. He's capable of scoring quickly, and would be far more effective at the other end of the innings.

The other batting change that needs to be made is Jacob Oram - we feel he needs to come up the order to at least five. Oram is the kind of batsman who needs to get his eye in, and becomes far more useful when he is given the chance to do so. We saw it against Bangladesh where he came in when the pressure was on, and he had to consolidate the innings. Once he had, he unleashed - and the runs piled up. In the third ODI, he came in and needed to start scoring right away - and he got himself out quite quickly.

These are not difficult things to fix, but would be very effective moves to make. But, most importantly (yes, we'll say it again) - they need to get rid of Bracewell as soon as possible, so that the team can start rebuilding under the guidance of a new coach.

The New Zealand Cricket Chief Executive, Justin Vaughan, has announced that NZC are on the hunt for a new coach, who will replace John Bracewell when his contract expires next season.

Bracewell has already lined up a new job as coach for the English county club Gloucestershire, which will be his second stint with the club.

Bracewell's term in charge hasn't been overly successful, with the Black Caps still struggling to find form in the longer version of the game. And while we are still rated third in one dayers, we haven't progressed to where we can put up a challenge against Australia or South Africa on a regular basis.

We here in the Attic are - quite frankly, sorry John - pleased to see him leave, and we're looking forward to seeing who leads them into the future.

Justin Vaughan has put the call out to coaches worldwide, and will be looking for someone with the experience to coach the Black Caps, and ultimately improve their current standings - most notably in Tests.

Please.

Some of the candidates from New Zealand are Dipak Patel (who has coached the Under 19's) and Auckland Aces coach, Mark O'Donnell.

Steve Rixon and John Wright are also rumoured to be in the running, and we think either one of them would make a good choice.

Whoever the NZC go with, it honestly has to be better than Bracewell.

He's done nothing for the development of cricket in New Zealand - and, ultimately, isn't that what a coach is supposed to do?

Saying that supporting the Black Caps is like riding a roller-coaster would be a huge understatement. It's actually more like riding an out-of-control rocket.

Sure, they can come alarmingly close to crashing down to earth - but they head for the stars at times, too.

And to the stars they went last night, with their 3-1 ODI series victory over England. Heading into game two of the ODI leg, it would be another understatement to say that New Zealand were on the back foot. They got a whipping in the Test series, were soundly beaten in the 20/20, and then got absolutely hammered in the first One Dayer.

Momentum was with England and, whilst New Zealand were always a chance, the series was there for the taking.

But this is where New Zealand are comfortable - down-and-out, complete underdogs given no chance of victory. And woe-betide the team that underestimates them in that situation.

Which, of course, is exactly what England did. And woe did betide them.

The rain disrupted much of the flow of Game Two but, whilst the game was still well up in the air, New Zealand stole back a lot of the momentum England had amassed during the rest of the tour. We weren't in the majority camp that decided New Zealand would have won given one more over of play, but we do agree that New Zealand were well in it. And that's more than we could say for the 20/20 and first ODI - momentum had definitely swung back towards being even.

Game Three, and New Zealand surprised us. Given the time differences between England and New Zealand, live coverage starts here in New Zealand at about 9:30pm. So, when the lights go off here in the Attic, the games are generally one innings old.

So when the Attic wrapped things up in the 3rd ODI, New Zealand had been bowled out for 182 and the momentum we had wrestled back looked to be gone. Come the morning news, however, and we were wrong - New Zealand (via young Southee) had bowled England out for 160, and had levelled the series 1-1.

Game Four was almost ruined by controversy, with Grant Elliot being (in our humble opinion) ridiculously given out after being injured in a mid-pitch collision with Ryan Sidebottom. Collingwood was given every chance to offer Elliot his wicket back, and chose not to.

Who knows? Maybe justice will come back to haunt him, and he'll get suspended for 4 games due to a pathetically slow over rate. Ha ha.

So Collingwood went, and Game Five came - with Pietersen at the helm. New Zealand scored 266, which was solid but not stunning. England should have backed themselves to chase it, but they didn't even get close. Starts from Bell, Cook and Bopara weren't cashed in on, and Shah couldn't quite turn his solid innings into an excellent one. Skipper Pietersen managed only 6, and in doing so lost Ian Botham a considerable sum of money. We're not actually sure how much he lost - in fact, he may not have lost anything at all. But he might have.

You didn't really think he'd top score with that added pressure did you, Beefy?

England fell for 215, and New Zealand finished their tour with a comfortable 51-run win, and the ODI series trophy.

What an amazing, underdog-style turnaround victory for New Zealand.

But in such a typical manner. At the end of the Test Series, we said that an ODI series victory would not be enough - and we stand by that. We're done with winning One Dayer's, but not being able to transfer those skills to Tests. We're done with the excuse of lacking 'experience' levels. And we're done with finishing the series on a high, but looking back at the Test's with red faces.

What should have happened in this series? Well, the Black Caps should have capitalised on the strong positions they constantly gained in the Tests, and should have won that leg of the tour. They should have won the 20/20, too.

Had they done that, England would have been demolished in the One Dayers, and New Zealand would be flying home with a complete series victory - something that's far to foreign to New Zealand Cricket historians and record keepers.

We love the Black Caps, and we love winning from an underdog position. But New Zealand are not underdogs anymore, and we shouldn't be treated as such. We should be seen as the third or fourth best side in the world, and if we're beaten by teams below that ranking - well, then we've failed. New Zealand's Test ranking has to come up to where they sit on the ODI table - or at least close to that. 7th is well below par, and for a team that consistently has the goods for 50 overs...

It's time for a new coach. There's no other explanation, and we believe that until Bracewell goes, this one-sided, unbalanced trend will continue.

Damn good turn-around though, lads. Damn good.