With John Wright all set to leave the Indian team after the home series against Pakistan, the clamour over a replacement coach is reaching fever pitch. Greg Chappell, the former Australian captain, batting great, and currently one of the most lucid thinkers and talkers of a game of cricket, is one of the strong contenders for the post. He was in Mumbai on a coaching and promotional trip, and spoke exclusively to Cricinfo.

Firstly, are you interested in being coach of the Indian team?
I haven’t really thought about it very much. If they [Indian board] approach me and want to talk about it, I’m happy to do it. I’ve got plenty to do and I’m really focussing on getting on with my life. I tend not to think too much in hypothetical terms. I’m open to most things and always prepared to look and listen. If someone wants to talk to me about a job – in or out of cricket – I’m open-minded enough to have a listen. Coaching any national team would be a great honour, but it would also be difficult because it brings its own set of challenges. It would depend very much on what the offer was.You’ve dealt with the Indian board before. You were one of the candidates in the running when John Wright was picked. Will that experience colour your thoughts on the Indian board?
No, not necessarily. That was a different set of circumstances and in a number of cases different personnel. I tend not to hold on too much to things that happened in the past. I prefer to look at each situation in its own right and take a decision on what needs to be done. I wouldn’t consider that a problem.Your name has cropped up with other coaching jobs. But stories have gone around about things not working out because of parties not being able to agree on suitable terms. Why exactly do you want to coach India?
Coaching, for me, and being involved in cricket, is about remaining with the game I love and passing on some of the knowledge and experience. I had a lot of people who helped me – as a young cricketer and throughout my career. If I could help other young cricketers get as much satisfaction out of the game as I enjoyed, I’d be delighted to be involved. A full-time coaching job has some horrendous demands on it, especially at the international level. I’d have to consider all those things before I made any decision. I’m probably in a better position to take up a job like that now than at any other time in my life – my family has grown up, the kids are out and doing their own thing. I just enjoy the game and I find I’m still learning about it, discovering new things every day. Or perhaps a new way to do an old thing.The five years of coaching South Australia probably taught me more than any other period of my involvement with the game because I had to think about things differently. Coaching is very different from playing in that you can’t impact on the game as a coach. As a player you can impact a game by scoring runs or taking a wicket or taking a catch. Being a coach is more like being a parent and raising children. All you can do is prepare them the best you can and then it’s up to them to make something of it. Watching children grow up, and play sport, is the hardest thing you can do because you have no real influence. Once someone walks out onto a cricket field it’s up to him and his ability to be able to respond to a situation that develops. I suppose the art of coaching is to give a player as much information and support as they need, when they need it. And as much confidence as they need to be able to go ahead and do whatever it is they have to do. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, and it’s a demanding 24/7 kind of job.Would you want to be the national coach? Or be involved in putting a coaching structure in place?
The two go hand in hand. It’s difficult to take on one job without wanting to have an influence at the other. If you’re coaching a national team you want to have some input into the development process. A coach lives and dies by the performance of his players, and a coach is restricted by the players he has to work with. I think world cricket really needs to re-think the role of national coaches. It’s something that’s evolving and a reasonably modern phenomenon. One of the things that would encourage me to take on a coaching role would be to have more input in the development process. I have some ideas on that but am not prepared to expand on them at this stage. I would be happy to sit down with the relevant administrators and talk through the process of what I think is required for the modern game of cricket. I don’t feel inclined to discuss them hypothetically with relation to India, through the media.You’ve said that you would be open to talking to them if the BCCI approached you. But you won’t be approaching them, and you won’t lose any sleep if nothing came of this …
No it’s not something that I have a need for. I don’t need to coach anyone. But I enjoy working with cricket. The more talented the cricketers you work with, the more likely it is that you’re going to achieve some success. But it’s not necessarily the area where you can make the biggest difference. I believe the best coaches should be working with junior cricketers. I’ve committed through the ChappellWay program to touch as many players, coaches and parents as possible through the Internet. Just to work with 15 players is restrictive. Having said that, elite players respond better to advice than anyone else. I’ve really enjoyed the exchange of ideas and the quick feedback that I’ve got from the elite players I’ve worked with.

VVS Laxman, who has gone through a rocky time in Test cricket and found himself out in the cold as far as the one-day side is concerned, has blamed a lack of tactical flexibility for India’s recent troubles. Speaking to the The Indian Express during an India-Pakistan match for the visually impaired, Laxman insisted that a tweak here and there would once again propel India towards the top rung of international cricket.”In the past few years the opposition has understood us well, but that is the trend of international cricket,” he said. “We have not totally surrendered to teams, and therefore we don’t need to make drastic changes in the team. But we must improve our consistency. You cannot have the same strategy for Australia and Pakistan. They are totally different teams. Every series is different and needs new ideas.”According to Laxman, who was jettisoned from the ODI side before the tour of Bangladesh last winter, the reluctance to experiment was one of the root causes of the 2-4 reverse against Pakistan. “You cannot have a set pattern,” he said. “It is very important that the team has good options. One must look at the situation first – if early wickets are lost then the game-plan has to change. Flexibility is the key.”It was only four years ago that Laxman played the finest innings ever by an Indian batsman, and one of the greatest of all time, as Australia were vanquished in a remarkable Test match at Kolkata. He came in then at No. 3, his chosen slot, but with Rahul Dravid having established himself as one of the all-time greats in the very same position, it has been difficult for Laxman to reproduce similar heroics.”I have won matches for India at No. 3, though I can win games in any position,” he said. “John [Wright] also knows that I have always delivered at No. 3 in Tests and one-dayers, and therefore has always wanted me to bat there.” Laxman added, however, that there was no question of demanding the position for himself. “You cannot ask Rahul Dravid to move from that slot, because he has done wonderfully well there. I have spoken to Sourav and Wright about it, but I am not going to keep asking them for it. I will play where the team requires me to play.”What Laxman does believe, though, is the merit of shuffling your line-up according to the match situation. “Flexibility is important. Dravid, captain in the Mumbai Test against Australia, suggested that I bat at No. 3 with the new ball in play. I scored a crucial 69, put together a partnership with Sachin [Tendulkar], and we won the Test.”The criticism that has come his way in recent times has clearly irked. “I got two fifties against Pakistan in the Tests and everyone said I failed in the series,” says Laxman. “No-one bothered to check that I batted lower down the order with no support from the tail. I got 79 at Bangalore with the tailenders. I could have been selfish and played big shots, but I knew that crease-occupation at that time was important.”After suffering the heartache of missing out on the last World Cup squad, Laxman appeared to have resurrected his ODI career with three scintillating centuries in Australia, and another sublime innings in the decisive Lahore game last March. Subsequently, inconsistency and the perception that he is a liability in the field forced him out of the squad, but Laxman insists that a comeback is far from implausible.”My basic mantra is to rotate the strike, occupying the crease and keeping the scoreboard ticking,” he says. “Just hitting fours and sixes doesn’t work. Rahul and I have to stick around for 40-45 overs and eventually the team gets a big score. Check the records – if I have played around 40-45 overs, we have got 300-plus totals and won.”

Rod Marsh, the director of the ECB Academy, has begun the process of handing over the reins to his successor, Peter Moores, by stepping down from the selection panel for the remainder of the summer.For the remainder of the summer, a three-man panel of David Graveney, Geoff Miller and Duncan Fletcher will take charge of squad selection – for the NatWest Challenge and the five Ashes Tests – with Moores acting as an advisor until he takes over from Marsh in September.”Given my move back to Australia, I think it is right that David, Geoff and Duncan take the lead with the England Ashes squad this summer,” said Marsh, who has quit his post to spend more time with his family. “I shall always be pleased to fully support the selection panel and provide any input required.”Marsh has not always seen eye-to-eye with his selection-panel colleagues, and the unilateral decision to drop Marsh’s wicketkeeping protégé, Chris Read, in favour of Geraint Jones, caused a notable rift with Fletcher during the Caribbean tour last April.But David Collier, the ECB chief executive, was quick to praise Marsh’s efforts, as well as the timing of his handover. “It is typical of Rod that he has taken the initiative to ensure that we have a perfect handover. Rod has developed the facility and programme at Loughborough to world-class standards. Thanks to Rod we are the envy not only of the cricket world but also of many other sports.”

The New Zealand board has said that there was no question of not going ahead with the tour to Zimbabwe and added that they will try and avoid any contact with Robert Mugabe’s government.Martin Snedden, the chief executive of New Zealand Cricket, said an independent security report from Zimbabwe earlier this week had given the all-clear for the tour and that player safety wouldn’t be an issue. In response, the players unanimously agreed to the five-week tour, involving two Tests followed by a one-day tri-series with India as the third team.The detailed report regarding the security arrangements were given to the board by a Zimbabwe-based security expert, who also advised England and Australia during their tours last year. “The advice we’re getting is that as things stand at present he doesn’t think it will interfere with the tour proceeding,” Snedden told New Zealand Press Association. He added that player safety was the only grounds for not touring, as they would be liable for a minimum fine of US$2 million for unjustified cancellation under ICC regulations. Snedden said the US$2 million fine for unjustified cancellation was the bare minimum and that the touring country was also liable for all financial losses suffered by the hosts.The team have come under pressure from political parties and have been urged not to tour. Rod Donald, the co-leader of the Greens, petitioned all contracted New Zealand players in March this year and requested they boycott the tour on moral grounds. Helen Clark, the prime minister, had also said that she “wouldn’t be seen dead in Zimbabwe” under the present regime, and that she preferred the tour did not proceed. However, she didn’t take the final step of government intervention, which would also be grounds for cancelling the tour without financial penalty.Snedden outlined the advice that the board had received from the government. “Phil Goff [Foreign Affairs Minister] has suggested that it’s a good thing if we can avoid putting our players in situations where they have any contact with Zimbabwean Government officials, and we’ll be working to achieve that. The government’s taken a pragmatic approach, they’ve expressed a view that they would prefer us not to go, but they understand the contractual situation.”He felt that the cancellation of the tour would lead to embarrassment and added that the players were given all the information they needed about Zimbabwe’s political situation and had the past two months to decide whether to tour or not. “If you’ve entered into a contractual arrangement with nine other countries and you try and pick and choose later, then you expose yourself to ridicule,” he said. “The players have been through this situation a number of times in recent years. It’s an issue we’ve met head on and done pretty well. My understanding is the players are reasonably confident in the way we handle it and are prepared to trust us to do it right.”The board, headed by Snedden, have been weary of security issues in the recent past: New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan in 2002 was aborted midway after a bomb exploded outside the team hotel in Karachi; the team refused to travel to Kenya for a World Cup match in 2003 due to terrorist threats; and later that year they delayed a tour of Pakistan after receiving threats about touring during the holy month of Ramadan.

ScorecardThe 2004-05 domestic season kicked off in glorious sunshine, but the day didn’t look too bright for Notherns, who declared at 147 for 9, and then watched Gauteng run up 188 for 4 by the time bad light stopped play. The game was played under the amateur wing of the United Cricket Board’s Provincial ‘A’ competition, with the professionals due to start playing on the 7th.Northerns declared after Shane Burger (4-49), Gerhard de Bruin (3-44) and Johnson Mafa (2-38) took advantage of some poor shot selection. Gerald Dros (27) and Kruger van Wyk (37) were the only ones to offer any resistance, with their 54-run partnership. But the seven scores under 20 had set them back significantly.When bad light stopped play, 5.4 overs early, Gauteng had tipped the scales in their favour with some positive batting by William Motaung (44) and Blake Snijman (47) leading the way with an opening partnership of 95. Vaughn van Jaarsveld (38 not out) and Derek Crookes (4 not out) remained unbeaten.

Nasser Hussain has hit out at England’s weak selection policy during the early days of his captaincy, and has accused the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, of being “too interested in protecting his own job”.Hussain resigned as England captain in 2003 before retiring a year later after a matchwinning century at Lord’s, and subsequently entered the media as a commentator for Sky Sports. His autobiography, , is released next month and promises to be a typically forthright account of his four-year tenure. Some early extracts have been serialised in the Daily Mail, for which Hussain also writes a regular column.These days, the England team is a tightly run unit, with central contracts offering an essential measure of security for all the first-team players. But when Hussain was first appointed captain in 1999, he says that the selection policy was a much more hit-and-miss affair.”I like David Graveney,” Hussain writes. “He cares. He wants English cricket to do well. But he’s too interested in protecting his own job. He tries to keep everybody happy and is too quick to worry about what the press are saying.”Hussain goes on: “There’s no doubt the selection panel wasn’t strong enough then and a lot of it was down to Graveney. He would listen to anyone, be influenced by too many people. I’m all for democracy, but you really have to draw a line and have the courage of your own convictions if you are chairman of selectors.”But it wasn’t just Graveney who was at fault, in a summer when England slumped to the bottom of the pile in Test cricket. Ian Botham and Mike Gatting were also consulted on selection matters, and both receive short shrift from Hussain – especially Botham, who is now his colleague and sparring partner at Sky.”There was never any consistency in [Botham’s] arguments,” says Hussain. “He’d say one thing one day and then suddenly he’d be saying that the same bloke he had been pushing for a year was now complete rubbish. By the end of his time advising the panel, I was listening to what he thought I should do and then doing exactly the opposite.”

Ridley Jacobs and Jermaine Lawson will miss West Indies’ second Test against Australia, which starts on Saturday (April 19). Dr. Terry Ali, a member of the West Indies Cricket Board’s medical panel, has ruled that Jacobs needs more time to recover from his groin strain, while Lawson has been diagnosed with chicken pox.”Ridley will remain in Trinidad for a few days to start rehabilitative work before he returns to his native Antigua on Saturday,” said Ricky Skerritt, manager of the West Indies team. “Jermaine will return home on Wednesday and we hope that he will recover in time for the third Test in Barbados.”Jacobs’s unavailability ensures that Jamaica’s 20-year-old Carlton Baugh will make his Test debut. Tino Best, Barbados’s leading wicket-taker this season – his 39 scalps have come at just 18.25 – has been named as Lawson’s replacement.Among the other changes in the 14-man squad were the inclusion of Ramnaresh Sarwan and 20-year-old offspinner Omari Banks. If the recall of Sarwan, who has recovered from a fractured finger in his left hand, was not surprising, then the continued omission of Chris Gayle was. Gayle was left out of the squad for the Guyana Test after he opted to play in a double-wicket competition rather than the Carib Beer Series final. His continued exclusion indicates that despite comments to the contrary, he is still very much out of favour with the selectors.The inclusion of Banks is a reward for a solid first-class season in which he took 25 wickets at 36.40 and scored 270 runs at 33.75 for the Leeward Islands. He is the first cricketer from Anguilla to be picked for a senior West Indies side.West Indies squad: Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith, Daren Ganga, Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh (wk), David Bernard, Omari Banks, Vasbert Drakes, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins, Tino Best.

Ah, even the downtime days before the Ashes decider are tense. But there’s another thriller in store today for England and Australia. The women reconvene at Taunton for a series decider which had looked unlikely three weeks ago when Australia stormed to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Factor in the fact that Australia hadn’t lost to England in a one-dayer in 12 years and the Aussies were confident the series was in the bag.England had other ideas, though, and went on to win the next two in a row. Oh, and they reclaimed the Ashes for the first time in 42 years along the way. They are now riding high and their inspirational captain Clare Connor is confident of icing the cake.”If we can clinch the series it’s beyond our wildest dreams,” she said. “But the momentum’s with us.” It certainly is, and the momentum, in particular, is with batsman Claire Taylor, who has recorded scores of 57, 48, 82 and 116 so far this series.In Arran Brindle, England also have a batsman capable of changing the momentum of an innings, which could prove crucial today if the opening bowlers Cathryn Fitzpatrick and Emma Liddell apply the squeeze in a second burst. Shelley Nitschke is also capable of ripping through them; she took seven wickets in the second match at Kidderminster.Batting-wise, Australia have heavily relied on Karen Rolton’s contributions this summer, with Belinda Clark averaging below 14. The fast bowler Jenny Gunn has been her nemesis, getting her twice this series and three out of four times in the Tests.For the women, the Ashes are a very definite added bonus, but it’s the one-day prize that is most precious for them. “It’s the ultimate test in world cricket for us,” says Connor. “How we do in one-day cricket is how we are judged.” After losing to Australia in the semi-finals of the World Cup, England have every chance to make amends here. Today is judgment day.England (probable) 1 Charlotte Edwards, 2 Laura Newton, 3 Claire Taylor, 4 Clare Connor (capt), 5 Arran Brindle, 6 Jenny Gunn, 7 Lydia Greenway, 8 Jane Smit (wk), 9 Katherine Brunt, 10 Isa Guha, 11 Clare Taylor.Australia (probable) 1 Belinda Clark, 2 Lisa Keightley, 3 Karen Rolton, 4 Lisa Sthalekar, 5 Kate Blackwell, 6 Cathryn Fitzpatrick, 7 Alex Blackwell, 8 Julie Hayes, 9 Shelley Nitschke, 10 Julia Price, 11 Emma Liddell.

It wasn’t so long ago – the summer of 2003, in fact – that the England & Wales Cricket Board decided that the best way to keep cricket alive in this country was to “sex it up”. James Anderson led the charge with his ill-advised go-faster hair-stripe, while a series of lifestyle profiles were commissioned, featuring the likes of Simon Jones and Marcus Trescothick in chiselled, arty poses, answering questions ranging from bat-care to skincare.Two years later, and the true elixir for the game has been revealed. All it takes is a winning team, and the endorsements start to roll in. According to a leading sports marketer, Andrew Flintoff will take his off-field earnings into the millions if England avoid defeat at The Oval this week. And as for the rest of them, there will at least be plenty fresh fruit to take home to the family.It’s not exactly sexy, but it is very wholesome, and that is the image the ECB are happy to cultivate, after forging a partnership with the Department of Health to promote the virtues of fresh fruit and veg. Anderson, back in the squad as a replacement for Simon Jones, had no red stripe this time, but Ashley Giles had a bunch of bananas on his head instead, as the “5 a day” scheme was launched at The Oval on Tuesday morning.”This wonderful Ashes series has caught the public’s imagination and created enormous interest in cricket,” said the ECB chairman, David Collier, as England’s bowlers gathered round a large bowl of fruit for a photocall. “It is our job to capture this enthusiasm and translate it into more people playing cricket and staying healthier. It also means using the power of cricket to promote important messages that everyone who plays cricket should follow, such as eating well and staying fit.”At the other end of the ground, Marcus Trescothick was being tapped up for another worthy cause, as he received the NSPCC Standards award, in recognition of the ECB’s commitment to child protection, via its Safe Hands programme – a scheme that was set in motion two years ago.”As a father I completely understand the importance of developing a safe setting for kids to participate in sport and in particular cricket,” said Trescothick. “The welfare and protection of all young people in our sport is of paramount importance and through the Safe Hands programme this Standards award recognises the effectiveness of this important project.”Sven-Goran Eriksson is expected to visit The Oval for the second day’s play, as cricket – temporarily at least – takes over from football as the most-talked-about sport in England. But for now, it seems, England’s cricketers have been identified as the sorts of role-models for the young that the footballers have conspicuously failed to be. And it is utterly unsexy, which is precisely the point.

Five months have now passed since a BCCI-appointed committee announced, after two-and-a-half hours of deliberation, that Greg Chappell was India’s new coach. The announcement ended the most farcical of recruitment processes and heralded the beginning of Sri Lanka’s World Cup planning. Sri Lanka, forced to take second picks after their wealthier neighbour, were able to secure their first-choice selection: Tom Moody. Everyone was happy.Since then, though, the two Australian coaches have faced starkly contrasting fortunes. Moody settled in swiftly, immediately winning the respect and confidence of the captain and players. As coaching honeymoons go, it could hardly have been more blissful: 13 wins in 14 matches and hardly a murmur of discontent (apart from the normal grumbling about the hiring of foreign coaches from certain jingoistic sections of the media). Sri Lanka are settled, happy and riding a wave of confidence.Chappell, meanwhile, was plunged into controversy. During his first tour, the Indian Oil Cup, the first murmurs of dissatisfaction leaked out as some players privately indicated unease with his love of theory. Then a damaging rift opened up with Sourav Ganguly during the Zimbabwe tour that followed. The Ganguly Issue, a spat played out in the full glare of the Indian and world media, openly divided the team and uncertainly now lingers over both Ganguly’s and Chappell’s futures. Ganguly’s timely tennis elbow created a convenient opportunity for the selectors to appoint Rahul Dravid as captain, easing the tension, but the road ahead still looks rocky.Chappell’s troublesome start has highlighted just how fortunate Moody was to inherit a united team with a strong leader. Marvan Atapattu’s selection as the captain of a fantasy World ODI XI was just recognition for a man who has drawn the team closer together and laid solid foundations for the future. Moody took over a team that was already sailing in the right direction. While there remain serious problems in Sri Lankan cricket – a bloated first-class structure, declining standards of school cricket, and a frequently short-sighted and unprofessional administration – the national team is in good health.Moody’s tenure has already brought visible improvements with some of the younger brigade – Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof and Upul Tharanga, in particular – progressing quickly. John Dyson, the previous coach, was strong on match preparation and opposition analysis but lacked the hands-on approach in the nets that Sri Lanka’s players are used to. Moody, in contrast, who has the advantage a close connection and deep understanding of the modern game, has an imposing aura at the training ground, controlling proceedings tightly and ramping up the intensity with his own participation.

Unlike Chappell, Moody’s approach is not cluttered with complex theories and philosophies. His ability to simplify the game, clearly pinpointing areas where technical changes will bring the greatest results, has greatly impressed the players. His communication skills, with the players and the media, are excellent. He appears laidback and relaxed, but he’s also firm, prepared to speak his mind, and is very professional.To the credit of the cricket board – notwithstanding recent confusion surrounding the future of physiotherapist CJ Clarke, who was first led to believe he would be taking over fitness training, his professional strength, before the board changed their minds out-of-the-blue without prior consultation with Moody or Clarke – Moody has also been allowed to build a strong team management set-up that has great expertise.For the first time an assistant coach, Warwickshire’s Trevor Penney, has been employed. The appointment has created a stir because the board was expected to employ a Sri Lankan coach – Rumesh Ratanayake and Roy Dias were the frontrunners – to gain experience. But Penney’s farsighted willingness to take a pay-cut from a position within the ECB Academy to join an international team made him the ideal candidate for the job.In addition, a new physiotherapist, another Australian called Tommy Simsek who was recommended by Alex Kontouri, Sri Lanka’s physiotherapist for seven years, has been drafted in and a mental-skills expert was available from Moody’s first training camp with the team. Just over a decade ago Sri Lanka didn’t even have a full-time coach but they now have a first-rate backroom team.But despite a successful start, Moody is well aware that the real journey starts now. Recent series wins against second-rate West Indies and Bangladesh sides merely provided a gentle introduction to an exhausting and tough year ahead. Sri Lanka’s performance in the Indian Oil Cup was superb, but everyone knows that they are a very powerful force at home. Overseas success is the Shangri-La that Moody is looking for.Sri Lanka’s record in India is poor, although this is partly because there have been so few visits since 1996, when they graduated as a global cricketing power. They have not won a single Test in 11 matches spread over five tours, the last of which was a drawn series in 1997-98, and they have won only six of the 19 ODIs they have played on Indian soil – two of which were in the 1996 World Cup. So while India appear there for the taking, Sri Lanka are under no illusions as to how difficult a tour like this could be.However, this new Sri Lankan team do now have the talent and resources to improve their record in India. Not only are the internal dynamics healthy and the team management strong, but new players have strengthened the line-up, especially Maharoof, who adds valuable batting depth to the one-day team as a fast-bowling allrounder, and Tharanga, who has slotted in impressively at the top of the order.The continuing rise of Kumar Sangakkara, the rediscovered confidence of Mahela Jayawardene, the growing maturity of Tillakaratne Dilshan, the continued consistency of Chaminda Vaas and the return of a revitalised Muttiah Muralitharan, all provide further reasons for confidence. The only slight concern has been the inconsistent form of Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya in recent months, but their class is uncontested and it just a question of when they rediscover their best touch.Moody is wise enough to realise that honeymoons can’t last forever, but there is every chance it might last a little longer. Sri Lanka are in fine shape.