Graham Ford has entered the race to be the next coach of the Indian cricket team. Ford previously coached South Africa, as well as working in South African domestic and English county cricket.
With Dav Whatmore being the only name mentioned it was widely believed that he would be named as coach in the coming weeks, however it has not been suggested that Graham Ford has entered the fray. It is believed that the Indian players initiated communication to try get the best man for the job, and with John Wright and Tim Moody already committed to jobs in Australia, the players began talking to other players and former players within the game. The name of Ford figured at the top of many peoples lists, and he received glowing recommendations from the likes of Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusner and Jonty Rhodes, all of whom worked with Ford at domestic and international level.
Ford gained prominence when he lead a young Natal team to the domestic double in South Africa during the 96-97 season. He helped bring through the likes of Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusner, Dale Benkenstein and Neil Johnson as well as working with Malcolm Marshall and Clive Rice. After leading a couple of South African A tours he was named as assistant to Bob Woolmer for the national team, before taking over the post after the 99 World Cup. South Africa won 9 of the 11 series he was in charge for before is axing after a disastrous tour of Australia, where it was felt that he paid the price for internal power games within South African cricket. Ford is widely acknowledged within the South African game as one of the most knowledgeable and tactically astute coaches in the game.
1 comment:
I wonder whether Whatmore would be able do a good job with India anyway. He's a excellent coach to bring "underdogs" to forefront. What he's more renowned. He did it with SL in 1996, and recently with Bangladesh. But, India is no underdog, are they? Think about that, when Sri Lanka re-called Whatmore for a second term, (When Sanath was captaining) he failed to do what he did with the Sri Lankan team of 1996. Difference is, 1996 SL team was an underdog team with Aravinda being the only professional cricketer. But, in the second term, it was a whole bunch of professional cricketers that Dav had to deal with.
Will he be able to do an exceptional job with highly professional Indian cricketers? I don't think so. India should look for alternatives. May be countries like Ireland, and Kenya should look for Whatmore. I believe ICC should hire whatmore as a full time coach for associate nations. Assignments of 2 years each for every associate nation. It will be great for the game!
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