Cricket: New Zealand face competition in bid to woo Mr Wright

By Richard Boock

at the World Cup

LEEDS - Former test cricket captain John Wright could end up coaching England rather than New Zealand.

The second-most capped player in New Zealand cricket history was last night linked to the England position recently vacated by David "Bumble" Lloyd - who, like Kiwi coach Steve Rixon - decided to step down at the end of the World Cup.

Wright has, for several months, been the most popular of the presumed candidates for the New Zealand job.

However, England cricket's management committee will meet tonight with a short list which is believed to include the former opening batsman's name, along with hot-favourite Duncan Fletcher, former Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore, and Englishmen Jack Birkenshaw and Bob Woolmer.

The present Kent coach, Wright has also been seen as a leading contender for the New Zealand position, along with former test team-mate and now Gloucester coach John Bracewell, and Auckland coach David Trist.

New Zealand Cricket are expected to make an announcement on Rixon's successor soon after he returns from the test series against England, which follows the World Cup.

Wright played 82 tests for New Zealand between 1977-78 and 1992-93, 14 of those as captain, and was a long-time servant of the English county side Derby.

The 45-year-old might not necessarily be the first choice for the England job, but, with contractual issues still to be sorted out before the successful applicant is named, his chances of being invited to take over from Lloyd are far from remote.

Fletcher, Zimbabwe's first World Cup coach, is currently employed by Glamorgan, whom he piloted to the English County Championship title in 1997.

Whatmore played for Australia before coaching Sri Lanka to the World Cup title in 1996, and Woolmer is at present at the helm of South Africa.

The 58-year-old Birkenshaw coached Leicester to two championship titles in three years, after formerly representing Yorkshire, Leicester, Worcester and occasionally, England, as an off-spinner.

Meanwhile, another job that could be up for grabs fairly soon is the Indian captaincy, although the incumbent, Mohammad Azharuddin, insists he will not step down despite his team being on the verge of being knocked out of the World Cup.

"I am still the World Cup captain and the immediate aim is to see that we beat both Pakistan and New Zealand in our remaining matches," he said yesterday.

"After that, it is up to the selectors. They made me captain, only they can remove me from it. I still have some years of cricket left in me. If they want me out, so be it. I will not go on my own," the 36-year-old added.

Cries for Azharuddin's removal have gone on for so long that he has become a perennial scapegoat for India's cricketing ills.