Mahela Jayawardene, former Sri Lanka captain, world class batsman, and recent batting coach of England will be commentating on the England-Sri Lanka series starting at Leeds next week. Player-coach-commentator is the clichéd career graph of the modern international.
Someone apparently suggested to Angelo Matthews, the Sri Lanka captain that he might benefit from a chat with Jayawardene, the assumption being there are secrets to be revealed and unthought-of tactics to be exploited.
Matthews’s response was interesting. “There are no secrets in international cricket,” he said. “We have a lot of video footage. They have footage of us as well. When we get on the park we know what they’re up to. There will be a couple of tactical ideas which Mahela can put in.”
Jayawardene is not obliged to, of course. In sport, it is easy to confuse patriotism with professionalism. An ex-player is expected to spill secrets to his own countrymen free of cost, but to share his knowledge and experience only if he is contracted to do so by anyone else.
I am exaggerating, of course. There are no such rules. But Matthews’s response suggests something more fundamental: that the cricket coach is not an absolute necessity — a good computer analyst can do the job.
It is an old argument. A former Australian player once said, “An international coach is something the Australian team uses to travel around the UK.”
‘Overrated and overstated’Rahul Dravid put it in perspective a couple of years ago when he said, “Sometimes the role of a coach is overrated and overstated. The responsibility should always lie with the captain and the senior players as it is their team.”
When John Buchanan was revered as a wonder coach with Australia winning everything in sight, Bishan Bedi asked: “John, did you make the Australian team or did the team make you?” Under Buchanan, Australia won two World Cups, and once had a streak of 16 Test wins in a row.
Ricky Ponting thought the coach played a major role. Shane Warne did not, saying, “He is just a goose and has no idea and lacks common sense.” No ambiguity there.
The coach-team debate in cricket is comparable to the car-driver one in Formula One. How many world champions have got there by driving average vehicles? Conversely, how many average drivers have been boosted by great cars? Would Buchanan or anybody else be able to coach Bangladesh to a World Cup win?
It is tempting to conclude that the cricket coach is an unnecessary position created by (and for) retired players who want to “give something back to the game” at a reasonable price. But that would be excessively cynical.
The coach is usually a senior player from the recent past who at his best allows the players to relax and play their game. This was roughly the role played by the managers of the past. Teams travel these days with a large support staff. Too large?
Here’s what Michael Holding says, “I think the so-called backroom boys are too many. Many of the fringe cases (those the team could comfortably do without) make noises merely to justify their appointment. They like to pretend they are making a difference but sometimes that works against the team.”
Not all players on tour are comfortable with their official coaches, and consult players-turned-commentators. And they quickly learn who the forthcoming ones are. No left arm medium-pacer can have a better person than Wasim Akram to consult, for example. There is a brotherhood which recognises no geographical borders, and is happy to share knowledge.
Confusion compoundedSome coaches tend to complicate the game using jargon that makes it all seem very esoteric when in reality they are just protecting their jobs by suggesting to the player he is a long way from understanding his own game.
As Ian Chappell once put it, “Is the coach advising in the best interests of the team or of him maintaining his large contract? There’s way too much decision-making based on job justification.” Great teams don’t need coaches, terrible teams can do little with one.
Matthews is right. There are no secrets in international cricket. Players strut their stuff in full public view knowing that the slow motion replay is available at any time.
Weaknesses in temperament are quickly common knowledge across the world. Even modern captains often go by gut feeling and pattern-recognition that comes from experience.
Certainly at the international level, it has to be a combination of instinct and information. The first you develop through observation and practice. The computer is available for information.
Are younger players training themselves to observe, or leaving everything to the coach and computer? If so, at the very least, they are disqualifying themselves from a job as coach post-retirement!
Mahela Jayawardene could be a useful man for both England and Sri Lanka, at a personal level. But then so could the commentary team, and players past and present who are just a phone call away.
