Neil Manthorp Cricket
He might not inspire gasps of fear from the cricket terraces of Australia, but then fans have always been useless at picking coaches. Players yes, but not coaches. But whatever the fans may say, Graham Ford is absolutely the right man for the South African job – even if he doesn’t carry a big stick.
The relationship between a coach and his players is holy territory in sport and Ford has no intention of changing that. In fact, Ford will go as far as humanly possible to make his players feel happy and secure. Ironically, Bob Woolmer was occasionally accused of being too “soft” with bolshy seniors or cheeky juniors and yet Ford is the antithesis of a big-stick wielder.
“He is a great listener and a brilliant communicator; he’s fantastic for bouncing ideas around and discussing a problem before coming up with suggestions and solutions,” says Shaun Pollock, who knows him as well as anyone after their shared years at Natal.
Negotiation skills and personality are the characteristics most players would choose to see in their coach and yet it is an undeniable fact that most of the successful coaches in the game have had more than a smattering of bully in them.
Australia’s Bobby Simpson and Eddie Barlow are egotistical bullies, but both have enjoyed significant success. The West Indies team in the late Eighties was effectively coached by Viv Richards, one of the most callous, hard-nosed individuals ever to play.
Woolmer actually reversed that trend and proved, to plenty of surprise, that sensitivity and understanding were not qualities that might lead, somehow, to emasculation. But 19 Test matches for England, and three centuries, also provided an important rejoiner lest some should doubt his word.
Now, five years later, the national side comprises almost all the same players that arrived in the second year of Woolmer’s reign. They know each other, understand their aims and methods and – most importantly – they know their own strengths and weaknesses. All they need now is a brilliant organiser, a workaholic, someone to discuss technicalities with and someone who can put a smile on a weary face. And that’s what they’ve got.
It’s going to be strange hearing Ford discuss the intricacies of Test cricket at news conferences, given that he never played beyond Natal “B”, but Pollock sees his lack of international experience as a bonus.
“It means he listens to everything with a fresh approach and doesn’t have any ideas that are set in stone. Besides, he’s dealing with players that have 50 Tests and 150 one- dayers under their belts, they don’t need a coach to tell them what it’s like out there.”
Cricket fans may find former players tiresome when they talk about what it was like “in their day”, but current players really hate it. Ford, thankfully, can never make that mistake, just as Woolmer didn’t.
Woolmer, meanwhile, is struggling to find sufficient storage space for the job offers he’s received. Sadly, and disappointingly, none have come from the United Cricket Board (UCB).
“I always said I’d like to remain in South African cricket,” Woolmer said, “but I have to go where the work is.” He was due to become the country’s director of coaching until Ali Bacher suddenly decreed the post was to be based in Johannesburg, discounting Cape Town-based Woolmer.
At least it’s not only Woolmer who is being discouraged from working by the UCB. Border’s underrated coach, Richard Pybus, was told in no uncertain terms by Bacher that accepting a short-term contract to assist Pakistan during the World Cup would be “unacceptable”.
Pybus, to his great credit, behaved immaculately when speaking in public and attempted to point out that he was neither an employee of the UCB nor availed of top secret information that might harm the South African side when revealed. Privately he was very, very cross. He flies to England today and joins up with Wasim Akram’s team on April 27.
Woolmer, meanwhile, is likely to be the subject (and benefitee) of a straight battle between Warwickshire and England for his services.
Which leaves Ford to carry on the fine work started and continued for five years by Woolmer. Not only will he inherit a group of finely tuned cricketers, but he will take over a hatful of tried and trusted systems and routines that everybody knows and enjoys. He is a coach much in the mould of his predecessor and therefore the transition will be smooth and painless. He will work fiercely hard and will thoroughly deserve the success that comes his way.