But Otago seamer Jacob Duffy described his removal from the playing roster as more like an intervention.
The 22-year-old was painfully aware he had not been bowling very well. He got pummelled during Otago's opening twenty20 games and took a spot on the bench for game three.
So when coach Rob Walter and assistant Anton Roux pulled him aside and staged ''somewhat of an intervention'', Duffy was not completely surprised.
''I knew something was coming. I thought I might have to go back and play some cricket [at a lower level],'' he said.
But Walter and Roux had other ideas. They wanted Duffy to stay well clear of competitive cricket and work on remodelling his action in the nets.
''They were bigger than just surface issues,'' Duffy said.
''That came as a bit of a shock, obviously. But with the way my action looked, something had to be done.
''I wasn't swinging the ball and I wasn't as accurate. That has been two strengths and so I was no good to anyone, really.''
Duffy thinks the problems with his action became more pronounced when the tried to add an extra yard of pace.
''Over the winter I got told to try to up the pace and bowl 5kmh faster. I probably got there just by increasing the intensity of my run-up.
''But by doing that you sort of throw other things out of whack. I probably had some technical faults there already. With a bit more pace into the crease they sort of over exaggerate themselves.''
Duffy's front leg was falling away and his whole body was collapsing towards the direction of the covers. He was bowling round-arm as well and not making the most of his 1.93cm frame.
Just two years ago, Duffy was the leading wicket-taker in the Plunket Shield with 45 scalps at an average of 24.06. He was named in the New Zealand A team and was tracking towards a potential international career.
Duffy still has all the raw material to be successful and views the setback as a detour rather than derailment. He has a concrete five-step plan which he is working through methodically. Step one is to get his left arm up nice and high.
''We are lining up my front arm to start with and getting it tall and in line. There is a lot of thought going into how we go about this and step two, three and five are actually looking good just from step one.
''It might not take as long as we thought but it is a good start, anyway.''
There is no deadline for Duffy's return. He was not even planning on playing club cricket this weekend, although he rather fancied having a bat.
''Normally, if you are not performing, you go and play some club cricket. It was a bit of a shock hearing I wasn't going to play any cricket.
''The idea is we fix it here [in the nets] out of a game pressure situation. At the moment I'm just doing drills and hundreds of reps a day to just get it right, so when it comes to game time it naturally comes right.
''I'm hoping to look back on this in a few years' time and be thankful I did that. The way I was trending, I wasn't improving or going anywhere.
''Something had to happen and I'm thankful the coaches had the [courage] to come to me and say, 'look, this needs to be done now'.''
