The saga surrounding Ross Taylor's demotion as New Zealand captain took a further turn towards the ugly as the batsman disputed claims that he had been offered a split captaincy by coach Mike Hesson.

The initial story was that Hesson had only asked Taylor to step down as limited-overs skipper following the tour to Sri Lanka, and that Taylor had turned down the Test job, but the player says that's a lie, and that he was never told he could keep the five-day leadership.

Meanwhile, Brendon McCullum has been given the job in all three formats, while Taylor has pulled out of the tour to South Africa at the end of this month, saying he wouldn't be able to give his all for the side.

Taylor told Radio Sport of his conversation with Hesson: "He said I wasn't a good enough leader, that this team needs a strong leader and that I wasn't a strong leader. If I wasn't a strong leader why would he give me the Test captaincy?"

"He said 'Ross, I am going to recommend to [NZC director of cricket] John Buchanan that we have a new captain for South Africa'. There was nothing in there about anything to do with a split captaincy."

When asked if someone was lying about letting him keep the Test armband, Taylor was unflinching as he replied: "Definitely".

Taylor went on to explain why he had pulled out of the tour to South Africa, despite being one of the Black Caps' more in-form batsmen, saying the side would be better off without the distraction surrounding him.

He continued: "I don't think I could have given 100 percent. It has been a pretty stressful time for me, especially the last two or three weeks but the last five months have been pretty tough on myself.

"It's still pretty fresh in my mind. I think I got straight back on the horse by not turning down the captaincy in Galle and leading the team to that victory (against Sri Lanka in Colombo).

"It would have been easy for a person in my position to just give it up there and then, but I decided that the best thing for the team was to carry on.

"The team will be better without me and all the distractions that have happened in the last couple of weeks."

Taylor is expected to be back in the side for the series against England in February next year, though the unpleasant nature of the debacle will leave a sour smell in the dressing room.