Now that's Cricket, Coach

This is a refreshingly honest and absorbing account of a remarkable period in Indian cricket presented by perhaps India's most successful coach. John Wright has, of course, resisted the temptation of glorifying his own role in the success of the team, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions. The book is well written, and like his own batting as one of New Zealand's best batsmen in recent times, Wright's articulation is elegant and attractive. It is sprinkled with humour and several anecdotes, which make this volume interesting even for those who know little about cricket beyond casual exposure to the extensive TV coverage of the game. Samples of Wright's sense of humour are extensive, such as his account of how after he retired from cricket and took up an uninspiring job in the retail section of a major New Zealand company, he noted, "I discovered I was good at two things: driving a fork lift and hiding from customers."

Those who watch cricket in India take for granted the excitement and hysterical pitch the game generates, but coming from the pen of a foreigner, this reality inspires a sense of amazement. Hence, Wright pledges that when he gets back to watching cricket for pleasure, "I won't bother going to Lords; I'll go back to India." Through Wright's description of events and anecdotes, the reader can draw subtle conclusions about the unhealthy management of cricket in India, which contrasts so starkly with the tumultuous applause the game and its leading exponents receive from a doting public of over a billion Indians. Mismanagement by the BCCI is writ in the manner in which Wright's own contract was kept hanging even while he had assumed charge as coach of the Indian team and plunged into his responsibilities full scale, or in the fact that the computer analyst for the team, who obviously has to remain in close proximity with the coach and the team, had to stay in another hotel because his per diem allowance was lower than that of the rest. The political frailties of the system can also be gleaned from the fact that managers of the Indian team keep passing through revolving doors. Wright found Chetan Chauhan an excellent manager, but like all those before him, he was replaced by a variety of diverse individuals ranging from a member of Parliament, a doctor, an owner of a trucking company, a professor of chemistry to a fighter pilot, among others.

The book also confirms the irrational manner in which national teams are selected, dominated by regional considerations other than in the case of the top five or six stars, whose position is generally not disputed. Examples highlighted like those of Akash Chopra, a brilliant close in fielder and reliable opening batsman, indicate the need for nurturing budding talent to create balance and depth in the team. Also evident is the merit of providing a larger role for the coach in the selection of the team, since in the ultimate analysis, a great share of responsibility for the performance of the team lies on his shoulders, and he has to create and build a team strategy.

Wright does talk about personalities, including Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sourav Ganguly, but he does so without rancour or bitterness, even though in several instances the former did not provide the coach with the support that he deserved and similarly Ganguly often disregarded Wright's sound advice. One person who comes out in a somewhat unfavourable light is Sunil Gavaskar for exerting overt influence on the team such as assuming the role of batting consultant for the team on the strength of merely a text message from the captain, Ganguly, an irregular act on the part of both. Wright's reference to Bishan Bedi in calling "a spade a shovel as a matter of course" is amusing.

However, for those who value the technical sophistication of cricket, something is missing in this book. Wright does not describe the technical weaknesses of players, which inevitably creep into the craft of even the best. The coach is supposed to identify these and help sort them out, but he makes no mention of such cases. The many pictures presented, clustered together, are of poor quality and hardly support the excellent contents of the book. The narrative presented is, of course, very absorbing, and some of the actual matches described give the reader a privileged view of highlights from India's recent cricket history.

Wright comes across as a disciplinarian and an effective motivator, nowhere near the tough and brutal coaches dominating the field of sport across the world today. His rough handling of Sehwag at the Oval in 2002 seems to have been the only occasion when he lost his cool. His respect and affection for India and Indians comes across uniformly. He describes with admiration how a taxi driver in Bangalore returned 120 rupees as tips from an earlier trip because it was seen as money left inadvertently. One particular statement, also carried on the back cover, is an eloquent tribute to India: "India hits you the moment you set foot there. It engages all your senses, but behind the clamour and the bustle and colour and crush of humanity, there's a peace and serenity I haven't encountered elsewhere. India taught me many things." But will John Wright's book teach India the many things we need to learn?