As the process of finding a new Blackcaps coach, or Blackcaps coaches, swings into action, there will be a bunch of personnel decisions awaiting the successful candidate/s. These decisions will predominantly revolve around the ODI team as the World Cup is the big event looming on the horizon, also coinciding with a fairly settled Test team that doesn't require too much tinkering right now.

The questions and decisions for the Test team will come though, don't worry about that. The settled nature of the Test team stems from strong performances on home soil and a lack of actual Test cricket. As the Blackcaps play more Tests, especially against better nations overseas and once we start to see which Test players can maintain a high level of performance in tougher circumstance, then the coach's influence will be more evident.

Building towards the World Cup is the major objective right now and any signs of building towards the World Cup or clear planning for the World Cup, will be a cheeky level-up from the shambles of the Champions Trophy. The new coach does have a strong ODI group at his disposal, the key here will be settling on combinations and some level of consistency in selection, ahead of the World Cup; everything should be sussed prior to the World Cup with various 'on the run' options during the World Cup.

Grant Bradburn gives his team talk ahead of Scotland's opening match against New Zealand. #followscotland

How the coach views Colin Munro, is not only a good place to start as it's the top of the batting order, it's also perhaps the most intriguing selection decision the new coach will have to make. The new coach may not want to go down the pinch-hitter route and may have other plans for Munro, then if the coach does stick with Munro opening, he will need decide on what level of output Munro must dish up to command a World Cup spot.

This will flow into a Munro vs George Worker discussion, with an added wrinkle of any other opening batsmen candidates that the new coach likes. Munro and Worker are the leading candidates, but the new coach could opt to play Tim Seifert as an opener for example or shuffle a few other batsmen out of their previous positions to open the innings.

Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are all but certain selections in the best Blackcaps ODI team. They have all done enough to this point to earn a fair amount of faith and it would take a dramatic coaching decision, or drastic loss of form, for one of these three not to feature in the top-four.

How Mark Chapman was used last summer was one of the more puzzling decisions of Hesson (and ol' mate Gavin Larsen's) tenure. Chapman was a Ford Trophy gun in the middle order and instead of moving more experienced batsmen to fill Williamson and Taylor's spots, Chapman was thrown into the deep end to bat in spots he had barely batted in during the Ford Trophy.

This sets up an interesting situation at #5 and #6, where Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls are the incumbents. Both deserve to get first crack, although neither can be thrown in the certainty category, no when someone like Chapman is on the bubble and we can also include Tom Bruce in this middle order bracket.

Depending on the new coach's thinking, this could influence the wicket-keeper selection. Latham is the current wicket-keeper, batting #5 and this is largely based around Latham's class with the bat. If Latham isn't deemed the best #5 batsman and the new coach doesn't view Latham as an ODI opener, then the new coach will have to dive into the deep pool of kiwi wicket-keepers; Seifert, Tom Blundell, Dane Cleaver, Cameron Fletcher, Devon Conway, Ben Horne, Glenn Phillips.

Maybe the new coach loves BJ Watling and Watling is injected into the ODI team as an opener, for example.

The all-round abilities and unique all-round abilities of Mitchell Santner and Colin de Grandhomme, should see them enjoy a smooth transition into the new coach's regime. Both are capable of bowling 10 overs, in a variety of game-situations and even though there are question marks around Santner's power-hitting vs quality death bowling and de Grandhomme's ability to save an innings, there aren't too many blokes around Aotearoa who you'd select ahead of these two at #7 and #8.

Trent Boult is as much a certainty as Williamson and Taylor, no dramas there.

As the new coach may have to decide if/when to wield the axe on Munro, he (maybe she??) could be put in a similar conundrum with Tim Southee. Southee is an experienced international who is more than likely to offer plenty at the World Cup, but that's not concrete and any dip in Southee's performances will result in the likes of Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson getting a sniff.

Even peripheral stuff like how the new coach ranks this wider group of seamers will be of great intrigue. I do think that Henry and Ferguson are the leaders of the next-up pack, there's no shortage of seamers who will be eager to make a good impression though; Adam Milne, Seth Rance, Scott Kuggeleijn, Jacob Duffy, Doug Bracewell, Ben Wheeler, Blair Tickner, Hamish Bennett, Logan van Beek.

To wrap it all up, we can get into a stylistic discussion which will have a big impact on whether Ish Sodhi or Todd Astle earns selection alongside Santner. Perhaps will give us the funkiest insight into how the new coach is thinking as playing Santner and Sodhi, or more importantly giving them consistent game time together in preparation for the World Cup, will signal a low key sense of creativity and kahunas to move away from the typically kiwi rotation of seamers and one spinner.

Hesson flirted with this, yet he never stuck with it to get the true rewards. The new coach has an opportunity to settle on a bowling rotation and whether it's Sodhi or Astle, either one of them will benefit greatly from consistent opportunities.

That's if the new coach opts to use two legit spinners, ahead of a third frontline seamer. This will all depend on the style of cricket that the new coach wants to play and I also think that this decision is beyond what the pitch is doing; Sodhi can be effective on any pitch with the white ball and Astle can offer a splash of batting as well, perhaps shifting this to a discussion about who the best bowler is and not a seam vs spin convo.

Foundations have been laid for the new coach and there is also an opportunity to sprinkle a new twist to the Blackcaps, which makes this job a fantastic gig for a coach. That starts with the ODI team and how they are built for the World Cup, a World Cup that the Blackcaps can genuinely win with comprehensive preparation.

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Peace and love 27.