Posts
Loading ...Articles tagged as: coaching
Coaching the subcontinent “impossible”
By Will 1 month ago, 2 Comments »
I suppose the western prejudiced would agree with this by default. Coaching India and Pakistan is fraught with difficulty, and Mike Atherton goes into more depth about the “impossible” job that has faced Richard Pybus, Bob Woolmer and others.
2 Comments »Pybus could not cope with the irrationality and the uncertainty of Pakistan cricket. Using an unfortunate analogy, given the present situation, he said this of his time there: “They have an amazing capacity to ambush themselves … you’re always sitting there waiting for someone to lob a hand grenade and waiting for it to go off. You can never plan with such a team because you don’t know what is happening tomorrow.” Dismissed twice, Pybus urged Pakistan to take a more scientific - meaning Western - approach to their cricket.
[...]
Woolmer may have been better placed than Pybus to cope with the increasingly Islamist outlook of the post-match-fixing Pakistan team under Inzamam-ul-Haq because Woolmer’s South Africa side were the most overtly religious of the Western teams. Indeed, he was sanguine about the religious orthodoxy of the majority of his players, the prayers before, during and after play and the adherence to Ramadan; it was the unpredictable nature of their cricket that he could not understand.
The stress of coaching a team who lost to Ireland, as Pakistan did in the 2007 World Cup, was too much for him, especially because, unlike the mid-1990s, when match-fixing was rife, there was no evidence that Pakistan lost the match for financial gain. Coaching Pakistan was, sadly, Woolmer’s last job; a lonely hotel room in Jamaica his last port of call.
Egad, an Englishman coaching England? I’ve a better idea
By Scott last year, at the end of January, 4 Comments »
Bob Woolmer has admitted an interest in the England job, and Allan Donald has come out in support of his application. Donald is well qualified to talk about Woolmer given their long association both for Warwickshire and South Africa. And Woolmer’s track record for South Africa and Pakistan speak for themselves. Pakistan is a reasonable chance of challenging for the 2007 World Cup, and have just leveled the current series in South Africa.
But here’s a thought out of left field. Maybe Australia should try to poach him first. There’s absolutely no reason why an Englishman can’t have a leading role in Australian cricket. And there’s no doubt that from a professional point of view, coaching the best side in the world would be a new experience.
I’m not saying that Australia should definately go down that path. But I think it is an idea that merits some consideration, as well.
4 Comments »Dump Duncan?
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of June, 5 Comments »
I must say, this has been brewing in the back of my mind since England lost the first one-dayer at Lord’s. But I avoided mentioning it in either of my verdicts as I felt it was not only premature, but too controversial. Enter Tim de Lisle who, handily, has done it for me, and rather more directly and eloquently too:
6. Replace the coach
Some players are just better suited to Test than one-day cricket. Some coaches are too. Duncan Fletcher was a handy one-day player himself for Zimbabwe, but his style as a coach - patient, methodical, painstaking - is better geared to Test cricket. With the help of central contracts, four-day cricket, Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan, he has changed the culture of the Test team. But he hasn’t done much for the one-day side. He should either have a rethink or step aside for someone with a real feel for the one-day game. It could be someone Fletcher would approve of, like Andy Flower, already a mentor to Chris Read and Alistair Cook. Or it could be someone Fletcher wouldn’t approve of at all, like Adam Hollioake. Desperate times, desperate measures.
Who to pick? Matthew Maynard, who some believe is the main in waiting for the top job? Tim’s right: Fletcher is too calm and methodical a coach to be sufficiently proactive (not reactive) in a one-day series. That’s the impression I get, anyway.
5 Comments »Gough to replace Cooley?
By Will 3 years ago, mid-December, 1 Comment »
Scott mentioned that Darren Gough won the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing competition and, hot on the dancing heels of that comes the news of Steve Harmison calling for twinkle-toes to replace Troy Cooley. Bit soon, I’d say - but not a bad call for the future, I reckon. He’s not dumb, Darren.
1 Comment »Foreigners in West Indian Cricket
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of May, 1 Comment »
Tony Becca is ranting about the influx of foreigners in West Indian Cricket
As concerning as this must be, I can’t help thinking: “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” I sympathise especially with his point about nurses and teachers, many of whom go to America and Britain where they are paid far better:
Apart from the embarrassment of so many white foreigners in West Indies cricket and the reminder of the days which so many had thought were behind us, the second thing it is saying to me is that the West Indies, this West Indies that is short of so many basic facilities for its people, that cannot pay its teachers enough to keep them at home, is so rich that it can afford to pay a team of Australians to teach West Indians how to play cricket.
By white foreigners, I assume he’s talking about the Australians who are now “in charge” of it, rather than white foreign players (unless anyone knows different?). The most confusing part of the article is this:
It needs to understand that West Indies cricket is not a franchise like the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Yankees, like Real Madrid or Manchester United; it needs to understand that it is a team selected from West Indians  and West Indians only; it needs to understand that no one can build a strong West Indies team by developing West Indies players only; it needs to understand that any attempt to build a strong West Indies team by concentrating only on the West Indies team will end up making it weaker if only because there will be no continuity  no one waiting in the wings; and regardless of all what is being said re: the abundance of talent around, it needs to understand that West Indies cricket is weak.
Who else can they pick if they are not to develop West Indies players only? I don’t understand what he means at all. And I find it worrying that people like him are voicing their distaste in having foreign coaches. Australians (and Irishmen!) are keen to help West Indian Cricket, to get it back to a reasonable standard. Surely the very fact that they’ve (WICB) had to employ Australians (and I think it’s worth noting that they are Australian) shows a) an admittance of how desperate they are and b) how committed they must be in improving and developing West Indian Cricket.
Just look at how Rod Marsh has helped English Cricket. And Duncan Fletcher. We were initially sceptical at Fletcher - but after the horrors and nightmares of Ray Illingworth and David Lloyd, he’s brought professionalism and respect back to English Cricket. The Aussie coaches, managers and physios will probably do the same to West Indian Cricket…we hope.
Hat tip: Ryan
1 Comment »Thorpe to play for NSW
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of May, 6 Comments »
Didn’t see this coming - Graham Thorpe’s accepted an offer to play for New South Wales in Australia, as a precursor to getting a coaching qualification. So, it looks like he could well retire from International Cricket come September. He’ll make his 100th Test in the 2nd Test against Bangladesh.
6 Comments » « Previous Entries