Rutherford, who scored 5051 runs in 68 first-class games for the province, told the Otago Daily Times the frustration had been building over recent years.
"At the heart of this email is a frustration I have had for quite a few years, to be honest, of the general apathy that exists, both externally and internally, of Otago Cricket," he wrote.
"As a past player, and more importantly as a manic, obsessive, overly patriotic ‘Blue-and-Gold’ supporter, I am bordering on embarrassed at what Otago Cricket has become.
"There appears to be no plan. No strategy. No understanding of its place in the New Zealand Cricket framework.
"The apathy extends to many people like myself who once shared a passion for cricket in Otago, but who (probably) now expect the worst.
"You just have to look at the player turnover in the past five years. [That is] enough to sound alarm bells.
"Why are players leaving? Has anyone ever asked?
"Clearly, certain players see a better pathway for their individual development away from Otago.
"Their own personal ambition is not being satisfied by remaining in Otago.
"There is no agenda here. Just a desire to see the association move forward."
New Otago Cricket Association chairman Russell Mawhinney was sent a similar version of Rutherford’s email and told the Otago Daily Times he did not accept the association had no ambition or strategy.
"Ken is a passionate Otago cricket man and he is someone I respect,"Mawhinney said.
"All he wants is to see Otago do well and he has some ideas there. We have to bear in mind that he is probably not the only one who is thinking that, when the team is not performing as well as people want it to sometimes.
"We have a strategic plan. Things don’t happen overnight but there is a lot of stuff being worked on all the time, whether that is the environment at the Volts or whether that is around high performance.
"But the thing with Ken is, I know if I rang him up and said, ‘Ken, I need you help with something’, he would do it."
Rutherford, who was on the board of the Northern Districts Cricket Association from 2015-17 and served as the convener of selectors for ND during the 2018-19 season, acknowledged Otago had some unique challenges given their "obvious limitations" in terms of player numbers.
But he argued the association needed to be "creative, bold, and shrewd when it comes to managing resources".
"At an elite level, it must be accepted (and embraced) that there will seldom be a need to go outside of the contracted list of players for the playing XI. The best players are the contracted players."
Recruitment has been a battle for Otago. The association’s inability to lure players south while losing key players such as Nathan Smith and Michael Rippon has highlighted the issue.
Part of the problem is the major associations can only contract players for a year at a time. That makes it harder to plan for the longer term.
But Rutherford believes Otago needs to build the team around a strong core.
"There is no apparent core in this current squad," he wrote.
"Having a strong core also acts as an attraction to players from other provinces to play for Otago and sets a great example (inspiration) for home-grown players to follow."
Rutherford wants to see a recruitment plan focused on the medium rather than short term and for the association to "pick players who will fit the Otago mould".
"This aspect is key. As much as I would prefer that Otago and Southland cricket supplies all Otago Cricket talent, this is fallacy. Otago needs to control this process better.
"I don’t mind losing if you can see a team (and organisation) that is well-prepared, savvy, determined and having a decent crack.
"I don’t see that with Otago Cricket at the moment.
"Russell mentioned recently that there is a strategic plan and direction. Best the association communicates it better as the only thing clear is its opacity".
