Cricket: Players want 'general manager', not coach

A backroom cricket-savvy general manager seems to be the preference for the Black Caps rather than appointing a hands-on technical coach following Andy Moles' axing.

With the team governed by Daniel Vettori, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is averse to appointing anyone who might clash heads.

The powers-that-be are reluctant to have a situation where an experienced captain is mixed with a strong-willed coach - as could be argued happened with Stephen Fleming and John Bracewell in late 2003.

A moderate coach is a model that fits the top four test teams at present.

When you marry up skippers Graeme Smith, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ricky Ponting with their team mentors, you get Mickey Arthur, Trevor Bayliss, Gary Kirsten and Tim Nielsen.

The latter quartet let their skipper front the show for the most part.

NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan says the appointment still has to show leadership but it might be more tactical than telling a player how to bowl an outswinger.

"We don't want Daniel overburdened. We want someone who has been around a bit who has a strategic side. Daniel needs to work out what he wants to do with his team day to day, while the successful candidate looks ahead to the Pakistan test series and gets answers to questions like 'what are Australia doing in India?' for when they tour later in the summer."

Vaughan's hesitant to hire anyone outside cricket on a permanent basis but there are exceptions.

"We've been utilising Roger Mortimer with his Olympic experience and high performance as manager of the likes of Hamish Carter and Sarah Ulmer and we brought in [Olympic chef de mission] Dave Currie as manager because of his expertise in running groups of people."

Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe would structure matters differently. His onus goes on the captain, much as he styled himself in the role before leading New Zealand in its most successful World Cup campaign at home in 1992.

"I was never a believer in a head coach who was trying to be everything but ends up being nothing. I'd just hire a fielding coach to take the pressure off Vettori."

In that regard, Crowe has thrown the name Chris Harris into the mix, as Harris prepares for a 21st top level season, close to his 40th birthday.

"You want someone to be there to take a net, listen to player needs and then run them ragged in the field. Steve Rixon was good at that, Wally Lees was, too. Wally was an honest man-manager and picked up a lot of the slack for me. Jonty Rhodes has also been doing that with South Africa and the Mumbai Indians since his retirement," says Crowe.

"We've overvalued the position of head coach. And remember it wasn't that way in New Zealand until Jeremy Coney needed some assistance from Glenn Turner in the mid-1980s. Australia's Bobby Simpson also helped Allan Border as a reluctant captain initially."

Crowe would also bring in more one-on-one mentoring in players' home provinces to encourage better preparation ahead of tests.

"Everyone needs to be accountable and show more self-responsibility. Get rid of the bowling and batting coaches. You just want someone who works the nets and runs the fielding. That's why I reckon Harry would be perfect."

Vaughan is partially aligned to that thinking.

"We are keen to use one-on-one specialist coaching such as Saqlain Mushtaq to prepare the side for the Sri Lankan spinners recently. We might try to do the same for reverse swing against Pakistan."

Wasim Akram, stay close to your phone.