Cricket: Auckland trawl for new coach nets 12

By Richard Boock

Auckland Cricket has been promoting New Zealand as the land of milk and honey for internationally inclined coaches.

The search for David Trist's replacement as Auckland coach has been partly based on the theory that supply and demand imbalances in Australia, South Africa and England have left many top coaches without international prospects, chief executive Lindsay Crocker said. Back home after virtually dragnetting Australia and South Africa for expressions of interest, Crocker will check a couple of possible options in New Zealand and England today before drawing up a shortlist for the position.

He declined to disclose the names of any prospective candidates, but said speculation linking former test captain Ken Rutherford to the position was off-beam.

Trist was appointed New Zealand coach earlier this month after Auckland released him from the last two years of his provincial contract.

Part of Auckland's agreement with New Zealand Cricket apparently included some financial assistance in the hunt for a replacement, and Crocker made the most of an 11-day fishing expedition, interviewing 12 possible contenders.

"Many coaches with international ambitions can see they're probably not going to get the chance to work with their own national side," Crocker said.

"And particularly in places like Australia, where Geoff Marsh's side have just won the World Cup, and England and South Africa, where new coaches have just been appointed."

Although NZC had just appointed Trist to the national job, he said many coaches believed they still had a better chance of being offered an international post with a side such as New Zealand, where there were fewer home-grown prospects.

"Having said that, I was generally disappointed with the quality on offer in Australia, where I expected the standard to be pretty high. I found some really good prospects, don't worry about that. But by and large I was quite underwhelmed."

Crocker said he tried to lure those coaches who embraced Auckland's vision of a stylish, entertaining cricket team and environment.

"I gave them the whole spiel, and I can almost recite the patter from heart. It was sort of like 'your mission, should you choose to accept it...'

"We want to promote a game and a style that finds favour with our supporters, so it's important we find someone who shares the vision."

Crocker would not rule out a caretaker coach being appointed for one season as several of the best candidates were already contracted for the year.