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| Sunday, 6 April 2003 |
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Lanka might settle for stop-gap coach for NZ tour here by SRIAN OBEYESEKERE Outgoing coach Dav Whatmore will be taking back home across the shores his wares with him to Australia after the Sharjah tour. And his early exit by Whatmore's own wishes which will come a month earlier than when his contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) officially ceases on May 31, will leave the BCCSL, which gave the Sri Lankan born Australian coach the marching orders, in a bit of bother. Indeed, as Whatmore's long term marriage to Sri Lankan cricket will come to a grinding halt after Sharjah, it will at least leave a temporary void. That is as far as foreign expertise goes. For the cricket authorities, who had three candidates in mind, might for a start have to opt for a stop gap local coach in all probability for the upcoming home tour by New Zealand starting April 25 followed by a one-day triangular with Pakistan joining, according to the BCCSL's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Anura Tennekoon when contacted by the `Sunday Observer' last Friday. For a start, Bob Woolmer, the England born former South African coach is a non starter. Confirming this to the `Sunday Observer' was the BCCSL's Chairman of the Interim Committee, Hemaka Amarasuriya who said that there was no front runner for the job at the moment. It could be the much touted former Australian wicket-keeper Steve Rixon or New Zealander John Bracewell or any other choice, according to the local cricket boss who said,"We have spoken to Australia's Steve Rixon and New Zealand's John Bracewell. Rixon has asked for time to think it over. He will say `yes' or `no'. But he want's time to talk it over with his family. As Amarasuriya says getting the right candidate would not by any means come overnight. " We have not been able to decide as yet. Our options are open and might have to be expanded for more candidates. We might have to look at younger coaches as well", said Amarasuriya who explained that `what we have to do is to identify who is the most suitable to take over from Whatmore.' Indeed, if it will be sweet, bitter memories the middle aged Whatmore will take back, (whose age the `Observer' was left to surmise because the BCCSL's officer in charge of team personal files, Rajasingham was not willing to divulge for what he called reasons of confidentiality best known to him), certainly finding a suitable successor as indicated by our cricket chief Amarasuriya will not be easy as Lankan cricket enters a new era after Whatmore who will be best remembered for the Australian influence he brought in galvanising the country to taste World Cup success in 1996. An influence knitted around his geniality and modesty in his devotion to the game to a much loved country he left as a kid but came back to give his know how. But an influence which, according to sources close to the Lankan team, began to erode in the last 2 years or so when the coach began to lose his cool demanding better results from his charges which reportedly let to a breakdown within. The Romesh Kaluwitharana ditching the closest controversy with hundreds of cricket fans from Moratuwa crying foul of Whatmore last Sunday. Rixon (45), who represented Australia from 1977 to `88, has 13 Test matches under his belt and could well step into Whatmore's shoes if his inclination to do so finds the approval of his wife and family that it should be home away from home for him, according to Amarasuriya who indicated that there had been not as close a feed back from Bracewell. Bracewell (41), turned out for New Zealand Test from 1980 to `90. Both carry coaching experience. Rixon's the best credentials with a successful New South Wales team during the height of Steve Waugh's career. As cricketing analysts noted, Whatmore might have been right in his demands for better performance from the team in the face of the decline that set in. But whatever the disappointments, Whatmore leaves behind a legacy of a world title won while taking the team to the semi-finals this time around after he took over after Sri Lanka's dismal exit in the 1999 World Cup. A legacy which observers noted has given new meaning and definition in the journey ahead as finecombing for Whatmore's successor begins. |
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