When the first cracks start to show, that's it, Andy

The moment Andy Moles got wind of alleged player unrest, his position as Black Caps cricket coach became instantly untenable.

It's like finding a crack in your car windscreen. As the experts keep telling us, the damage has already been done and it's only about to get worse. A bump here, a little bit of pressure there, and your windscreen's history.

In Moles' case, it's apparent that he fulfilled his duties as the national cricket coach with the best of intentions, and while he obviously felt he was up to the job, the team's results would suggest otherwise. It was ironic, then, that his demise should come so soon after one of the Black Caps' best results in recent seasons, when they reached the final of the Champions Trophy one-day tournament in South Africa.

The subsequent loss to Ricky Ponting's Australians was irrelevant. The Black Caps had already over-achieved well beyond almost everyone's wildest dreams, although Moles' contribution to the achievement clearly didn't impress those at the coalface, namely the players.

You could argue that Moles was always facing an uphill struggle trying to instil some sort of consistency in a perennially under-performing Black Caps side. In that respect, the players have to shoulder their share of the responsibility for the team's generally poor results, particularly in the test arena, where New Zealand have taken a backward step over recent seasons.

Persistent failures at the top of New Zealand's batting order and the players' apparent inability to get their heads around the requirements for competing at test level can't all be laid at Moles' feet. But in a pool of player talent as shallow as New Zealand's, it's the coach who ultimately becomes expendable. While we persevere with watching players making the same fundamental errors season after season, the lack of alternatives simply creates more pressure on the coach to continue the formidable and thankless task of making silk purses out of sows' ears.

It might not be fair on the coach as the frequently under-achieving players continue to pocket their pay cheques. But that's the way it is, and Moles has become the latest scapegoat in New Zealand Cricket's constant battle to develop a competitive player base.

Again, you could argue that the rot really set in during John Bracewell's tenure, leaving Moles to unsuccessfully try to cauterise the wound. Maybe he wasn't the right choice in the first place. His similarly short-lived tenures as coach of both Kenya and Scotland suggests that he brought a fair amount of baggage to the New Zealand job.

Just a word of caution to the players, though. Whether or not Moles created an ideal playing environment, the players are fast running out of people to blame. It's time for a good, hard look in the mirror. Our patience is wearing thin.