SA Footy

from http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20174183-12428,00.html
Chappell coach tip for Australia
JON PIERIK
August 19, 2006 12:15pm

TEST great Allan Border has revealed former Australian captain Greg Chappell will be considered as a replacement for departing Australian coach John Buchanan.

Border, a Cricket Australia director who will play a key role in the search, confirmed a Herald Sun report on Thursday which stated the process was underway.
Buchanan will step down after the World Cup in the Caribbean next March-April after almost eight years in the role.

"John has decided that after the World Cup he is going to be moving on," Border said. "Therefore we need an Australian coach.

"It's a tough job. Tom Moody, Tim Nielsen, Greg Chappell are in the mix, Dav Whatmore is now coaching Bangladesh and he was a long-term coach at Sri Lanka as well.

"We've got a lot of good candidates for a tough job."

Former Australian allrounder Moody, now coach of Sri Lanka, and Nielsen, the head coach of Australia's centre of excellence in Queensland, have emerged as the two favourites for the job.

But Chappell, now in charge of an Indian side featuring the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, is expected to be a strong candidate.

Chappell's contract expires at the end of the World Cup and it's understood it will not be renewed by mutual arrangement with the Indian cricket board.

Chappell, who played 87 Tests and scored 7110 runs at 53.86, has shown his mental toughness in India where he played a role in having former powerful captain Sourav Ganguly replaced.

Several senior players have praised his technical analysis and his overall tactical nous.

Nielsen has the support of the current team through his time as an assistant and performance analyst with Buchanan, before he left that role last year.

Moody, who played eight Tests and 76 one-day internationals between 1987 and 1999, has won much praise since becoming Sri Lankan coach.

Border, also a national selector, said he did not have an issue if England opted to field several "shadow" players in Perth grade cricket this summer to avert a repeat of the 2002-03 Ashes injury crisis.

It is likely England will have 17 players as part of an official party, with coach Duncan Fletcher sending another seven to Perth to cover all bases.

"You have to remember than at anytime we have over 100 cricketers playing cricket or first class cricket in England," Border said.

"The Poms have been helping us for a long time.

"I have got no problem with them coming out and playing in our grade competition.

"Duncan Fletcher is a very shrewd tactician.

"They are just covering all bases.

"It just shows you the thought that has gone into their preparation.

"They are very keen to hold on to the Ashes

Hooray, someone else who is on the net at this hour!

I guess no one would be burning effigies of him over here if he got the job.

I would be!! He did such a great job with the Redbacks, and he's such a popular man in India.

could coach a state side so how is he going to cope with a national side england will have the ashes for the next 16 years if this happens

I would also hope that this is not being seriously considered, regardless of what Border might have said in the media.

Is this a joke?

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/austral ... 56922.html

Chappell ends speculation on coaching Australia

Dileep Premachandran in Colombo

August 20, 2006

On Sunday evening, India's coach Greg Chappell addressed a news conference where he once again clarified that links with the Cricket Australia job were just speculation. "As you all are aware about stories floating in the media about the Australian coaching job and CA, I would just like to say as I have said since accepting this position that coaching India is possibly cricket's biggest challenge, and it is one I am enjoying tremendously despite the huge challenges and the expectations of a billion cricket-loving people."

There have been reports in the Australian media that he could be the man to coach Australia's national team once John Buchanan's successful tenure ends after the World Cup in May 2007. Chappell's current contract with the Indian team also expires around the same time.

"I am totally focussed on the job and am giving my blood, sweat and tears. I am fortunate and indeed grateful to receive the overwhelming affection and love of the Indian public everyday, and I am also lucky to enjoy the trust, loyalty and commitment of Team India and its wonderful leader, Rahul Dravid, whom I have the utmost respect for along with other legends of the game like Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble," Chappell said.

"I am confident that when the time is right, Mr [Sharad] Pawar (the Board president) and the BCCI will sit down with me and discuss my future. I have no further comment to make on this issue."

Chappell also spoke of how frustrating it had been to sit around and twiddle thumbs while rain and events unrelated to cricket - the bomb blast on Monday that killed seven - spoilt any chances of play. "It's been frustrating to spend eight days or more waiting for the rain to stop," he said. "We had a few good sessions talking cricket with people who have had success in international cricket, talk about the way they prepare and go about their cricket. It was also an opportunity for us to reflect on what's happened and on what we are doing. Again, in busy schedules, that always doesn't happen.

"The guys have been terrific in that they have coped remarkably well. That's one thing I have learnt about India, they cope with setbacks very well. The boys have managed to keep themselves reasonably active and in a pretty good state of mind."

This series should also have been Sachin Tendulkar's return to the fold, after months out following surgery on his shoulder. "He would have loved to have got there and got cracking," said Chappell, when asked about Tendulkar. "He managed to get a few deliveries in the partial match he played. He knows that there will be another day when he will get the chance before long. If there is a silver lining, it is that he gets a bit more time to get stronger before he plays his first full official game."

According to Chappell, there was a chance that the team would leave for Malaysia and Singapore a little early, ahead of the tri-series featuring Australia and West Indies that starts on September 12. He was skeptical about the benefits of another camp. "The danger is that one camp after another is not necessarily better," he said. "We have to be a little careful, and try to do something different from the Bangalore camp."

Dileep Premachandran is features editor of Cricinfo

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