The Indian Coach Selection Drama

[Matt79]

Wow, the BCCI shoots itself in the foot again you'd feel, passing on Whatmore.

**unfounded gossip monger mode - ON**

You wonder how much say the "senior players" had in this. I've seen one comment on AAP about Ford being shortlisted after senior players lobbied for him. Perhaps some of the players who feel they've earned tenure in the Indian team don't want another Chappell coming in and thinking that the coach is in charge of the team. Better some hitherto low profile puppet perhaps?

 

[silentstriker]

Wow, the BCCI shoots itself in the foot again you'd feel, passing on Whatmore.

**unfounded gossip monger mode - ON**

You wonder how much say the "senior players" had in this. I've seen one comment on AAP about Ford being shortlisted after senior players lobbied for him. Perhaps some of the players who feel they've earned tenure in the Indian team don't want another Chappell coming in and thinking that the coach is in charge of the team. Better some hitherto low profile puppet perhaps?

Perhaps, but Ford does have a reputation as an excellent coach. Under him, SA won pretty much everything, and he has an excellent track record in county cricket too. Not saying you are wrong, but I am not sure if he would be a bad choice regardless.

 

[Matt79]

That's true - although he had a fair team out on the paddock back then. He's an interesting choice given his time there coincided with Hansie's problems...

 

[Richard]

Well - the second and absolutely tiny (but in the end hugely significant) part of them, anyway. Most of the really bad stuff happened under Woolmer - and without his knowledge.

There's no reason to suspect Ford would have been any different.

 

[Richard]

Nah, it just gets annoying when people start copy/pasting entire articles or cricinfo commentary. Posting a link gives readers the option to read the article instead of clogging the thread unnecessarily.

Your "PgDn" button not working?

 

[sohummisra]

There was a stat that during Ford's association with the South African team (whether as assistant coach or coach), the Proteas won 9/11 series. The two they lost were against Australia.

Not so good if we're going to Australia, eh? But anyways, I would pick Ford over Emburey.

As for the senior players rumongoring, while I do think their opinion should be taken into consideration, I also think at some level it is up to them to work with what they get. As long as they get along, that is.

 

[Poker Boy]

I always thought SA got rid of Ford too soon - if you sacked a coach every time you lost to Australia you'd run out of candidates very soon and it meant they brought a new coach in the year before "their" WC. Wether he is the best for India is debatable - his record with SA was good(although it wasn't just the Australian sereies he didn't win. They drew 1-1 in SL in 2000 but as that was their first post Cronje tour it was still a good result) but it was a very good team that he inheriated from the late great Bob Woolmer - and I reckon India need a coach who can get the best out of underachievers. Funny enough if they've gave up on Whatmore I reckon they'd be better of with Duncan Fletcher...don't laugh remember England were hopeless underachievers When he came there and less than rwo years later most of that team had won away in Pakistan and SL...

 

[Richard]

No-one should ever laugh at the prospect of Duncan Fletcher being appointed a coach.

 

[pasag]

Fletcher is clearly completely drained, there's no way he'll be going anywhere in the future and his immediate past record doesn't make for pretty reading either. Whether it's fair or not to judge him as a coach solely on the past year is a different question, but no doubt it would play a big role in selection, not that he'd want to anyway imo.

 

[sohummisra]

I don't know how responsible Fletcher was in turning around the fortunes of the English test side, but ODI cricket is far too important in India for someone to come and make us into a(n even worse) ODI side.

 

[Richard]

Fletcher is clearly completely drained, there's no way he'll be going anywhere in the future and his immediate past record doesn't make for pretty reading either. Whether it's fair or not to judge him as a coach solely on the past year is a different question, but no doubt it would play a big role in selection, not that he'd want to anyway imo.

Oh, very much so. All I meant, really, was that he's an excellent coach, and some people seem to have deserted that reality.

 

[quick4mindia]

How is record of Embury as a coach

Embury left playing cricket when i was a kid. Since then i haven't heard much of him. How has bee his coaching track record? any significant achievement as a coach?

 

[adharcric]

he's an excellent coach

Based on what?

 

[Richard]

Embury left playing cricket when i was a kid. Since then i haven't heard much of him. How has bee his coaching track record? any significant achievement as a coach?

Nope. None whatsoever. Very average coach from what I know. Just like Greg Chappell, really.

 

[Richard]

Based on what?

Based on the countless excellent work he did with England, most of which was forgotten due to the fact that his last series in charge happened to be lost 0-5, which had little to nothing to do with his deeds as coach.

 

[adharcric]

Based on the countless excellent work he did with England, most of which was forgotten due to the fact that his last series in charge happened to be lost 0-5, which had little to nothing to do with his deeds as coach.

Can you explain why England's success up until that series had so much to do with Fletcher's work, then?

 

[Richard]

Not everything in every little way did, but you'd have to be taking pretty poor notice to miss the fact that he did many excellent things with the English game. He came in at a time when Lord MacLaurin had taken over not long before and the two of them shared the view of the straightforward reality that international success was the only way the English game could survive, and that efforts had to be channelled principally in that direction.

He used Central Contracts - introduced just as he got the job - very well for the most part; he used some simple strategies to make reasonable players of spin into very good ones; he was someone who realised the reality that dressing-rooms are composed of many different characters and that every effort had to be made to accommodate them all; I could go on.

I fully intend to write an article sometime on the many things he brought to English cricket.

 

[Manee]

He is a very misunderstood coach, along with most. Noone really knows what happens in the dressing room or in coaching sessions and so teams are judged entirely on performances and yet, Fletcher has a fantastic record (Ashes 2005, Commenwealth Bank Series) and yet people focus on the negatives (Ashes 07, World Cup 2007).

I fully intend to read that article Richard as I wish to hear some rare praise of someone I think was a good coach.

 

[Sanz]

I fully intend to write an article sometime on the many things he brought to English cricket.

And when will you write that, After Indian coach is appointed ??

 

[Richard]

That quite obviously has absolutely nothing to do with the Indian coaching job in any way, shape or form.