Coaching Confusion

The Board of Control for Cricket in India does not seem to be in any greathurry to appoint a successor to John Wright as the national coach. And there areelements within the Board who have had a field day with their selective leaksabout those who have applied – and in some cases, those who haven’t.

BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra is consoling his aged parents who are ina state of shock after his brother Surender Singh was killed in a helicoptercrash on March 31. And, playing according to the book, he has said the Board’sworking committee would lay down the process for selecting India’s next coach.

My own feeling is that the Board will drag its feet long enough to leave thetask of choosing the coach till after the next annual general body meeting thatis due at the end of September. Remember, Wright was given only annual contractssince the Board’s office-bearers all needed to get elected or re-elected eachyear.

We shall wait for the Board to get its act together but it should not stop usfrom taking a look at the options available. Glance though the pages of anydaily and you would find that nearly all, if not all, the contenders for the jobare Australian.

After all, there are only a handful of non-Australian coaches – Bob Woolmer(South Africa and Pakistan), Duncan Fletcher (England), Ajit Wadekar and Wrighthimself (India) – who made a difference to national sides in the past decade.They are the only ones who could match the efforts of Bob Simpson – the firstof the cricketer-coaches of national teams – Geoff Marsh and John Buchanan.

Now that New Zealander Wright has ended his term in India, Greg Chappell, TomMoody, Dav Whatmore and Dean Jones have all indicated their eagerness to getinto talks with the BCCI. Of the names that are being bandied about, only SteveWaugh has indicated that his hat is not in the ring – at least not for along-term assignment.

So what is it about the job that causes the Australians to eye it? Does itmean that the money India offers (some say it is $80,000 a year) is good enough?Or, alternatively, does it mean that the challenge of guiding a talented bunchof cricketers is so alluring in itself? It would be interesting to hear what thecandidates have to say.

Waugh offered some insight into that when he said he had enormous respect forthe abilities of the Indian team and that it is among the world’s mostattractive teams to watch. Chappell himself believes India is potentially thenext powerhouse of world cricket. As for the others, it would look like coachingIndia is an honour and in Moody’s case, a step towards coaching either Englandor Australia.

Is there merit in seeking an Australian as coach of the Indian team?

Sir Vivian Richards, a living legend, points out that Australian coachesusually take a firm stance in achieving their goal and that could be a goodthing for any national team. There is no doubt about that as they bring aremarkable work ethic to the table. Their approach to coaching a team matchesthe intensity with which they play cricket.

Australia has always stunned world cricket, leaving it to scratch its headsin search of a solution. Now, it is the turn of former Australian Testcricketers to make us wonder what is it about the Indian position that drawsthem into the race. Or, does the fact that Buchanan has been in the saddle inAustralia for so long makes them see no opportunities at home?