Andrew Alderson, of The Herald on Sunday, reported yesterday Hesson, South African mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, New Zealand assistant coach Trent Woodhill and Glamorgan coach Matthew Mott had been invited for a final round of interviews this week.
When contacted yesterday, Hesson declined to comment.
It is understood the four candidates have had two interviews and undergone psychometric testing.
The latter will raise plenty of eyebrows, though the boffins at New Zealand Cricket appear to have put some stock in the results.
NZC chief executive David White heads an interview panel which consists of director of cricket John Buchanan, board member Rob Hart, former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming and Alex Baumann, the chief executive of High Performance Sport New Zealand.
It has been reported the selection panel wants to confirm a candidate by July 25, so the board can rubber-stamp the appointment at NZC's next board meeting.
Black Caps coach John Wright steps down at the end of the West Indies tour.
Hesson's achievement are well known in the South. During his six-year stint as Otago coach, he helped turn what was a rag-tag bunch of castoffs from every corner of the country into a cohesive limited-overs unit.
He guided the Volts to their first domestic title in 20 years when Otago beat Auckland in the final of the one day tournament in 2007-08.
The following season, the Volts won the domestic twenty/20 title.
He also had a good eye for talent, bringing England batsman Jonathan Trott to the province, long before anyone knew he was so good.
He also signed South African-born striker bowler Neil Wagner and enticed Neil Broom south from Canterbury.
The likes of Nathan McCullum, Aaron Redmond, Derek de Boorder and Ian Butler all flourished under his leadership.
Hesson, who has coached New Zealand A on several tours, can also count on the support of Black Caps wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum.
The pair are close friends and it helps to have a senior player in your camp.
While Hesson shapes as a leading contender, so does Mott.
The 38-year-old Australian fashioned a useful record with 3723 runs in 66 first-class matches.
He had success as coach of New South Wales, leading the state to Pura Cup title in 2007-08 and twenty/20 title the following season.
Mott has not enjoyed much success with Glamorgan but was Buchanan's assistant coach at the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
As a mental conditioning coach, Upton is bound to have done well on the psychometric testing, and Woodhill is familiar with the Black Caps environment.
Woodhill was employed as a performance analyst in 2010 and promoted to assistant coach when Wright was appointed to the top job later that year.
