Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Sri Lanka Cricket look towards John Wright as the next coach.


This morning The Island reported, "John Wright seems the overwhelming favourite" to be the next coach of Sri Lanka cricket team.

Sri Lanka Cricket, has shortlisted some high profiled names in the field, and according to the SLC sources, ex-New Zealand test cap (Ex Indian coach) John Wright leads the table among others.

"John Wright has done a wonderful job with India and he’ll be our favourite choice," a cricket official told ‘The Island’ yesterday

"We’ll be talking to him and if he’s willing to take over, we will go ahead with John," the official added.

Former Australian opener and coach Geoff Marsh, former South African coach Graham Ford and Greg Shepherd, who is the coach at Victoria, Australia have been other names that have been thought of as suitable replacements, but for the moment the former New Zealand opener looks to be the choice of most top officials.

"John is a proven coach unlike most of the other names that have been thought of. That means his price will be high too compared to some of the others, but nevertheless it’s an investment worth making," the official said.

But I personally have other ideas. It was "non proven" coaches (at international level) who had been succesful with Sri Lanka all the time. Look at Whatmore. Look at Moody. They evolved as top coaches, with Sri Lanka. So, I personally prefer if the board go for some new name, rather than bringing an ex-Indian coach to Sri Lanka.

One of the senior players of the national team told ‘The Island’ before the team’s departure to Abu Dhabi that it’s vital for the board to bring in a coach who will take the team to the next level instead of someone who tries to stamp his authority. "Tom was ideal. He was very methodical and tried to improve every aspect." he said.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd prefer an Australian to be honest. Rod Marsh - more than Geoff - would be stellar. He'd continue along the line from where Tom left off, but he'd add a serious sense of steel to their mentality - something we'd need in abundance when we tour Aussie later this year.

I respect John Wright, but for the sake of continuity I think an Australian makes more sense.

Voice in Colombo said...

No matter how much we don't like Australia, (in cricketing sense only. No offense) I too feel that we have gained a lot by having Australian coaches. Their coaches are much more professional. Just think of Whatmore. Only played 1 test match for his country, but see how far he has advanced than those coaches who played 100 test matches for their country. Even, moody was an "average" player in Aussie team. Not a star. But, as a coach he was a better professional than a player.

One secret behind Aussies success in cricket is, the quality improvement in their coaches. As you said, we should stick with the best. For buying milk powder, I would opt for "Made in New Zealand". For cricket coaches it's better to stick with "Made in Australia".

Anonymous said...

I don't think we could possiblely find a better coach than Moody. He did a great job with our boys. It's a great loss for Lankan cricket.

Boy should aim a 3-0 white wash against pakis, to give a good farewell to Moody.