The Black Caps' batting woes seem too big for one man to fix and two will take on the unenviable task.

Bob Carter will join new coach Mike Hesson as his assistant, but Hesson was at pains yesterday to stress Carter was not a batting coach.

"His title is assistant coach," Hesson said.

So what of the batting, which has struggled so much even departing coach John Wright took a parting shot at it ?

"We'll both do it," Hesson said. "It will be shared, definitely."

Carter is well regarded as a batting technician while Hesson, who played for Otago A as an opening batsman, is no slouch in that area either.

Hesson confirmed that Carter was always his man and no sooner had he been given the head coach role, he was on the phone to Carter sounding out the former Northamptonshire and Canterbury batsman.

Hesson had worked with Carter before and, in a somewhat ironic role reversal, was his assistant in 2005 when the New Zealand A side played the Top End series in Darwin.

"We work very well together," Hesson said.

"He brings a skill set that we need. He'll work in a number of areas and obviously we've got 15 batsmen in a squad and he's got some huge strengths there, but he's not the batting coach; his title is assistant coach."

Hesson said he and Carter complemented each other, shared similar philosophies, but could still debate when needed, and he was confident they'd make a good team.

Wright's assistant, Trent Woodhill, has departed, but Hesson said there would be no more changes and he was "very pleased with the support staff we've got".

His batting plan was that both would work with the struggling Black Caps' batsmen in a two heads are better than one situation.

With a tour to India this month, followed by the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, improving the batsmen's ability to play spin was a priority.

- © Fairfax NZ News