The role of a coach in international cricket

[pasag]

Has been touched upon a couple of times, but in light of recent events, what do you think the role of a head coach of a national side should be?

Should they be there in all-dominating positions, have plenty of power in the fate and direction of the side including selections and important decisions etc or should they be there more as advisors, just a glorified support staff for the players, similar to Shane Warne's opinion on them. Should it be somewhere in the middle? And does the side and its makeup have anything to do with your opinion here?

And finally, how much impact do they have and do you think a coach gets too much credit when a team succeeds and too much blame when they fail? Or is the credit/blame not enough or alternatively the right amount?

 

[honestbharani]

Ideally, I feel a team should have 3 coaches... If your head coach is a batsman mainly, then you get yourself a fielding and bowling coach. I am not saying that because these areas are becoming extremely specialized but also because it will help define boundaries and the profile of the job will be that much clearer.

The head coach, for me, should be a guy who can take care of some of the chores like arranging practice sessions, taking care of some of the nitty gritty of the cricketing life, so to speak. Apart from that, he should also be someone who can be a friend of the players, help them in the right direction, not necessarily in terms of technique but as someone who has been a cricketer himself, empathize with their situations and advise them from that point of view... Basically, also be a mentor/counsellor of the team. Also, he can help out with the planning and strategy parts. He can do all this as an add on to his basic role, which is to be the batting coach, if he is a batsman in the main or be the bowling coach if he is a bowler.


He can also provide inputs to the selectors on what sort of aspects are considered important within the group (the team) and what are the qualities the captain and himself and the brainstrust of the side are looking for in a youngster coming in. It might help out the selectors to understand the vision of the team and try and pick such players who can fit in. Obviously, they will need to be capable of a certain level of performance and should possess the requisite talent but after that, to me, it is always a question of attitude. That way, the coach need not be directly involved in the selection process, which may make it easier for the players to open up to him and trust him.

 

[Mister Wright]

Honestly, once you've made it to international level you don't need much coaching. I think an international coach's main role is to keep a player mentally on top of their game and to keep them motivated. Sure, they'll need to fix up technical things every now and then, but there main role is to keep the team sharp and to do a lot of research on batsman and bowler weaknesses that the team can expose.

 

[Flem274*]

Think teams just need a manager and a fitness/fielding trainer TBH. Though that manager should have some on call experts E.g for NZ the manager has Wright to call on if the openers need help, Crowe for the middle order, Hadlee for the seamers and Patel (Dipak) for the spinners. The fielding/fitness man could be say, Steve Rixon as he coached the NZers to IMO their greatest fielding for a long long time. He'd also be great keeping coach for McCullum.

Th manager and the fitness/fielding bloke should be someone the players can go to with confidence so they shouldn't be selectors but their opinions should certainly be valued by the selectors. I'd like to see the captain take a senior role without the coaching staff having too much input. Fleming prospered under Aberhart because he gave him room to be the skipper, the player the team looks up to.

Also think it would be great if the players helped each other out e.g. Bond took Gillespie for a few one on one practices as that would be really beneficial to him IMO.

 

[Richard]

Whatever it is, and different teams have different needs, it needs to be a case where people can't pillory the coach for something that is not his responsibility.

 

[chaminda_00]

To win 11 out his 16 Tests in charge.

 

[skipper]

A team NEEDs a coach. If the coach is a batsman, then a bowling consultant and fielding coach should be with the team before the camp for the tour/ tournament. If the coach is a bowler, then a batting consultant is needed.

 

[silentstriker]

Ideally, a team should have a head coach, a bowling coach, batting coach and fielding coach. There could even be two bowling coaches, one for spin and one for pace, though you can mix as well. You should also have a good sized support team, such as a media manager, 1-2 physical therapists, and a couple other roles.

 

[Richard]

Most importantly a nutritionist. Though some are well qualified in physiotherapy and nutritionism.

I do often wonder, though, whether, if we do eventually get everyone having properly organised "batting", "bowling", "fielding", etc. coaches whether the role of "head coach" doesn't need a change of title. John Buchanan put it best, IMO, when he talked of a "head of the family" figure - that's exactly what I see the role we currently know as "coach" ending-up as in the long-term. Not sure "manager" is the right title, but something like that - basically, the man who oversees coordination in all these staff and the players.

 

[Mister Wright]

I think if the coach can play guitar it helps. Because after a win (especially Australians) Khe Shan and The Boys Light Up need to be played.