New NZC member Snedden aiming to repair board's image to reconnect with fans

New director of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) Martin Snedden is reportedly making it his top priority to repair the image of the board and reconnect with the fans to make the game succeed in New Zealand.

The former Kiwi international, who was also the former NZC chief executive, Sir Richard Hadlee and Geoff Allott were voted on to a revamped NZC board of directors, which includes eight other recommended names, Stuff.co.nz reports.

Having watched NZC stumble through on-field struggles, several changes of coach and the Ross Taylor captaincy fiasco, Snedden believes that there is a gap between the board and the fans which needs to be closed, adding that the feel-good factor of the 2015 Cricket World Cup is the ideal tonic for NZC.

Snedden, who also headed New Zealand's 2011 Rugby World Cup operation, further said that NZC needs to behave in a consistently empathetic way with the fans over a period of time to rebuild their trust, adding that as that period can take a long time, the World Cup is perfect from that point of view.

Although Snedden initially targeted 2015 as his time to return to the board, the report said that the recent events and the need for more top-level cricket expertise sealed his return to the board this year itself.