da aviator aposta： Greg Chappell speaks up on a range of issues
da fezbet： Dileep Premachandran at Johannesburg19-Dec-2006
‘As I’ve said a number of times in the past, the truth is somewhere in between two extremes’ © Getty Images
.Was the decision to bat first, in some ways, an Australian one? An attemptto take the bull by the horns, so to speak?It was Rahul’s decision. You give up a huge advantage if you don’t batfirst when you win the toss. The state the pitch was in, it was a reallottery. I think it took a lot of courage for Rahul [Dravid] to take thatdecision. Sachin’s 44 and the 60-odd partnership with Rahul was very veryimportant in the scheme of things. Had we lost those guys early, a hundredmight have been hard for us.Do you think this could be a turning point after a few rough months?Who knows? It’s certainly a big confidence builder. As I’ve said a numberof times in the past, the truth is somewhere in between two extremes. Wehaven’t been as bad as we’ve looked in recent times, nor were we as goodas we looked when we won 18 out of 22, or whatever it was. It’s amazingwhat confidence can do on the one hand, and what lack of confidence can doon the other. We didn’t bat well in the one-dayers. We batted very well in this game in difficult conditions. The hard work that the boys have put in over thepast few months on their batting is starting to show results.After all the criticism of the processes in place, does this ease pressureon the team management?It certainly stops or slows down the discussion. All through it, we hadconfidence that what we were doing was correct, and what we had to do. Allwe could do was stick with that thought-process. Even after the one-day drubbing, the team spirit didn’t go down.I think that’s been the most pleasing thing. Not only on this tour, but inthe West Indies. We had a disappointment in the one-dayers and the spiritremained strong there as it had done in Pakistan before that, after losinga tough Test series and the first one-dayer on a Duckworth-Lewis decision.There’s some real resilience in the group, as there is in India. Thebattle for survival in India is such that one thing you do learn isresilience. These boys have got plenty of it.Dravid talked yesterday about the involvement of the senior players. Howdid they help?For any team to be a good team, you need a strong leadership group. Theimportant thing on this tour was that when we got to Potchefstroom, themanagement sat down and had a look at where we were at. One of the mainthings that needed to happen was that everything from that point onwardshad to come from the playing group. It couldn’t come from the coachinggroup. We had done pretty much whatever we could do.They had a team meeting on their own, without the coaching staff, andtalked about getting together and being stronger as a group. They startedeach day with a 20-minute session, with one player taking responsibilityfor it. All of that has really made a difference. It’s kept the grouptogether. The win in Potch was important but that in itself wasn’t theturning point. The discussion that Rahul had with his senior players,about sharing the workload and mentoring and all the other things thatgood teams do, has been the icing on the cake.Is that a very Australian thing, the idea of mentoring and havingleadership groups?It’s certainly an Australian thing but it’s also a success thing. Whetherit’s a sporting group or one from another sphere, there’s a strongleadership group. That’s something that we perhaps didn’t have aswell-defined as it needed to be. What I was seeing was Rahul taking on toomuch responsibility, more than one person could possibly hope to be ableto handle. He was taking on not only too much of the physicalresponsibility but the emotional responsibility as well. You’ve got toshare it around. I defy any team to be strong without a strong leadershipgroup on the field.To be fair, we’re no closer to the game than you are once it starts. Wesee them come back into the dressing room at breaks and things like that,but are still far way from the action. The decisions and the recognitionof the key moments in a day’s play, key moments in a game, have to be doneon the field. It can’t be recognised in the dressing room, or it’s toolate. That’s something we’ve worked hard on over the last six months,trying to get Rahul and the senior group to understand.Some of them have had their own problems in recent times, that’s probablytaken up their time and mental space. I think Potch was the turning point,where Rahul was able to impress upon them the need for all of them to takeup responsibility. We’ve got small groups within the team. We meet fromtime to time. We also need to build leadership within the middle group andthe younger group. In time they’re going to be leaders and senior players.
‘We recognised some things in Sree last year and we felt that he had whatit took to do that sort of thing’ © Getty Images
You talked about senior players and mentoring. Did you ever expect thoughthat a guy playing his sixth Test would go out and blow the game open foryou?We recognised some things in Sree [Sreesanth] last year and we felt that he had whatit took to do that sort of thing. But realistically, you don’t expect itto happen in the sixth or seventh Test match. You might expect one spellhere or there, or one day here and there, but to do it forthree-and-a-half days.It was a collective effort too, wasn’t it? Your three pace bowlerstogether had 49 Test caps, while [Shaun] Pollock alone had more than 100.Everyone starts from somewhere. Everyone at some stage or another is anovice. What we recognised many months ago was that you need certain typesof bowlers to have a good bowling attack, particularly in Test cricket. Ithas to have variety, can’t be all bowlers of one type. We looked atwhat we had in Pakistan last year when three left-armers all bowledsimilarly. That’s not going to work. It never has and it never will.You need height, you need swing, you need angles. It’s as much aboutangles as it is about pace or swing. Pace on its own is not the answer inTest cricket. Good players can handle pace. What they find more difficultis variety. When a bowler comes on, he’s got a window of opportunity of afew overs. After that, good players adjust to it. It’s no good coming onand taking three overs to warm up because by that stage, they’d work outwhat you do and be ready for it.We needed guys who had the physical and mental capabilities to be able tohandle the stress of international cricket. Sree, remarkably, in one ofhis first Tests in the West Indies bowled 30 overs in a game for the firsttime in his life. Now, what we’re asking these boys to do, and they’reboys, is to do a man’s job. And he did it as well as any man could do itin this Test.The tough thing will be to back up and do it again because the emotionaland physical strain is huge. He had diarrhoea yesterday and I’m sure thatit was as much from the emotional strain than anything he might haveeaten. It’s a huge thing to keep going, day after day, game after game.These guys don’t have the grounding in domestic cricket. We’ve thrown themin at the deep end, but in a way that it gives them the chance to succeed.We’ve tried not to overload them, tried not to ask them to do too much.Because you can lose them very quickly if you do.We’ve got Munaf at the moment who’s out with a foot injury. We’ve got tobe very careful with him because he’s probably the most experienced of theyoung bowlers because he’s played more domestic cricket. Not only havethey played only 49 Tests, but they’ve played less than 100 first-classgames between them.There’s no doubt in my mind that we won that series in the West Indiesbecause of the bowlers as much as because of the batting. We tried to findthree or four guys – if you can find six, it’s even better – and we needback-up because you won’t always get through without injury. It happenedto [Dale] Steyn in this game, Munaf is injured, and each of our guys hasbeen injured at some stage or the other. The more stress you put on them,the more likely that they’ll break down. It’s a hell of a thing to try andmanage, and see them do what they’re doing is well worth it.Munaf in the West Indies was fabulous. VRV came to the West Indies to getexperience and ended up playing two Tests. And he didn’t let us down. Hedidn’t let us down in this game. He had a couple of overs at the end thatwere disappointing, but again, it’s a hell of a strain for a 20-year-oldwith the little preparation that he’s had for it. Now, what we’re asking these boys to do, and they’reboys, is to do a man’s job. And he [Sreesanth] did it as well as any man could do itin this Test. The tough thing will be to back up and do it again because the emotionaland physical strain is huge. He had diarrhoea yesterday and I’m sure thatit was as much from the emotional strain than anything he might haveeaten. Wasn’t Sehwag doing the job required of a vice-captain in the early partof the tour?He was doing his job, but it’s not just two people. You need four or five.I can’t comment on the Sehwag thing as far as the selectors’ choice tochange the vice-captain is concerned.What has Sreesanth done so that he was a changed bowler in the Test match?What he’s understood for the moment, and hopefully for ever more, is thatit’s not about how fast you bowl or how much aggression you show, it’sabout how consistently you can put the ball in the right areas. The lessonhe’s learnt, which every bowler has to, is that if you’re running uptrying to take a wicket every ball, you’re not going to be successful.It’s not about bowling magic balls. It’s about bowling good balls, goodovers, good spells. That’s what he did in this Test. He bowled good ballafter good ball.All of the experts kept commenting on the seam position and how well itcame out. I’ve never seen anyone do that as consistently. It wasremarkable how well the seam came out every time. The good bowlers do thatconsistently over periods, and probably three or four times in an over.He was doing it six times an over, time after time after time.He may not always do that, but the lesson he’s hopefully learnt is toresist the pressure that will come on him from all parts, his ownexpectations as well as that of others.We’ve been working with him on this since the day he started. It’s notabout running in and bowling magic balls, it’s about bowling consistentlywell. It’s a lesson that Munaf learnt very quickly in the West Indies. Weexplained to him what good fast bowling is all about and he took it onboard. I don’t think there was any language problem. He was able to do itvery quickly. That’s a tremendous skill in itself.The conversation that Sree had with Allan Donald, the beauty of that wasthat what Allan talked to him about was thought processes, rather thanphysical processes. It’s all very well to understand mechanics but theengine of the mechanics is the brain. Your technique will vary dependingon what you’re thinking about. What Sree understood in this game was thathe had to try and bowl good ball after good ball in a particular area.Where do we stand on Sourav Ganguly? Your relationship with him, Dravid’s relationship with him.Everyone’s relationship with him is fine. Sourav made some comments in theteam meeting the other day, about how the last 10 months has been a greatlearning experience. To be fair, he probably needed time away to reassesshis own cricket, and also no longer being captain – Rahul having time totake over that role. The thing that so few people want to understand isthat from my point of view, there was nothing personal.The discipline that a good team requires is that everyone needs to be onthe same page and working in the same direction. Zaheer Khan went througha similar thing and he’s come back. We had a discussion yesterday afterthe game, and he believes that he had to go through that to come back towhere he is now. Sourav’s in the same boat. He’s got a lot to offer. Andwe saw some of it in this Test match.Hopefully, from this point, we can go forward without this cloud hangingover the head of the personalities involved. It’s not about GregChappell or Sourav Ganguly; it’s about Indian cricket. And it’s about whata successful team needs to do. And if he does the things we saw from himin this game, he can have a long stint. Most of us have been cautious about what we say, for fear of it being distorted.With Ganguly, you gave an honest opinion (in Zimbabwe). Time to give asimilar opinion to Sehwag?I don’t intend to do my coaching through the media. Virender and I havegot an ongoing dialogue all the time, as with all the players.Were you a little uncomfortable that with Sourav coming here, all theattention would be on what you and Sourav, on every little glance orgesture instead of being on the team and what it did?It was definitely a volatile situation, there’s no doubt about it, becauseof the emotion that was surrounding the whole thing. It was always goingto be an interesting period. I would like to think that both of us wouldbe professional enough for this to go through reasonably smoothly.Internally, it’s been very smooth. Only he can speak on his behalf.He feels he’s very comfortable. And I’m very comfortable.What kind of role did the seniors play in facilitating Ganguly’s comeback?The players have been most welcoming and supportive and it’s been adifficult time for everyone I suppose; it was never going to be easy forSourav but I think the fact that he had some good support from the playinggroup, not just the senior players, the junior players too were verysupportive. He is a world-recognised and well-credentialed Indian playerfrom within the playing group and that has hopefully helped make thetransition for him very smooth.Is it pleasing for you to see how he has batted?
I felt when we talked back in Zimbabwe, he had a lot to offer asa batsmen. The difficulty was that he was at a stage from the captaincypoint of view that was taking up a lot of mental space that he needed forthe batting and, as I said, he made a comment at the team meeting the otherday that he’d learnt a lot. That there’s more to life than just cricket.We had a session where we got everyone to talk about two or threedifferent things that were going to be important for the Test series, letalone this match. Sourav’s comments were along the lines of courageous,gutsy play and I think it was Sachin that asked him what he meant bycourageous, gusty play and he talked about how, in these 10 months or so,whatever it is that he’s been away, he’s been able to reassess a lot ofthings and cricket’s not the most important and only thing in life andthis has taken the pressure off him from a batting point of view. Thatevery inning is not the most important thing in life and it’s given himthe chance to be a little more relaxed about his approach to batting.These were the things we talked about many months ago in Zimbabwe, and Ithink he’d have to speak for himself though.But we thought every innings was important for him now.
Yes, it is, up to a degree it is important for everyone. But if you bat asif every innings is your last, you’re not going to bat with freedom. And Ithink we saw some freedom from Sourav in this innings, in this game, thatperhaps he’s not had in his batting for a long time. These were some ofthe things we talked about.Does he look a different batsman from the one of 10 months ago?
Certainly mentally he’s a different batsman, there’s no doubt about this.He’s always been a strong character. I mean, we’ve seen from him in thetime he’s been out of the team that he’s got a will and a desire to playfor India that is very strong. It showed through in Potchefstroom and itshowed through in this Test match.Mike Hussey has a brilliant record over the past couple of years. But hesaid he goes out and plays every innings like it’s his last. He seemspretty relaxed.
There are fine lines between the thought processes and I’m sure he doesn’t see it as his last in the sense of if he fails. What I think he’s talkingabout and I know Michael a little bit and I’ve had some discussions withhim about batting over the years, he’s talking about making the most ofit. He’s come into Test cricket late in life as far as cricketers areconcerned and what he’s saying is to go on and make the most of it, makeit count rather than bat as if this could be my last chance and if I getout, I’m in trouble. If you bat like that, the second version, you’re inserious trouble.The team has obviously won just one Test but does that give a differentperspective to the way you look at the one-day team? Is it time to re-lookthat?
I think we’re always reviewing the situation and we want the best team wecan possibly have for both forms of the game. There are slightly differentrequirements for Test cricket rather than one-day cricket. So what worksfor the Test team doesn’t necessarily work for the one-day team but Ithink it at least gives us some options for things to think about andconsider. We still have 90 days, 80-odd days to the end of the World Cup, I don’tknow what it is to the start of the World Cup. It’s not long but I think we stillhave time, two series back in India. I still feel, as I did many monthsago, that we have the bulk of our 15-man squad in place. As with mostselections, it’s the last two or three that come under the mostdiscussion. Every time you sit down to pick a team, you got seven. It’sthe last three or four that the discussion is about and I’m sure that willstill be the case. If you bat asif every innings is your last, you’re not going to bat with freedom. And Ithink we saw some freedom from Sourav in this innings, in this game, thatperhaps he’s not had in his batting for a long time. These were some ofthe things we talked about How do you react to criticism? Do you take it badly?
Well, about the same as everyone else. I don’t like it any more thananyone else does. But worrying about it is not going to change it nor helpme do my job. There are certain things I understand that are important inwhat I do and I can’t expect everyone to agree with it or understand it.So criticism, it depends where it’s from, there are some people I am morelikely to take note of their critical comment than others. For fear of anylawsuits I won’t make any comment about which direction they might be frombut some people I worry about more than others. But I’m like anyone else,I don’t like to be criticized, I would much prefer that everyone loved mebut I know they won’t. So let’s just get on with it and accept it.You had been pretty emphatic about non-negotiable things in one-dayers.You had talked for instance, about the fielding. But has that changed, inthe face of experience? Would you compromise?
I think at all stages in life you have to be prepared to compromise andyes, I would be prepared to compromise. I mean runs and wickets are moreimportant than the runs you can save on the field but there is still abalance that I think is non-negotiable and I think its trying to get thatbalance that is the most difficult thing. And as I’ve said many timesbefore, its not just about my vision, there are seven of us involved inselecting teams, five actually make the selections. I’ll certainly give myviews very strongly but at the end of the day, I’m the coach. What theygive me I have to work with and I’m happy to work with. I don’t know howmany players have been through the group in the time I’ve been here, maybeas many as 30 and there’s not one of them I wouldn’t work with, so I’lltake whatever we’re given. But being the person I am and probably, beingAustralian, I’ll always have strong views and I’ll make those views heard.Then I just accept what comes.You said it gives you a few more options, are you willing to experimentwith those options in the eight games left?
I think we have to look at what those options are and we have to facereality. At the end of the day, we’ve got to give ourselves the habit of winning, ofperforming well in the World Cup. I don’t want to talk about wining theWorld Cup as that’s a pie in the sky and even the best team in the worldarriving at the World Cup is not guaranteed to win it. I think a realisticgoal is to get to the semi-finals and then it’s a new series. Anyone canwin it from there. That’s what we have to aim for and go there with theteam that gives us the best chance to do that. I’m the last person that isgoing to stand on a philosophical argument that gives us less chance to dothat.
‘Virender and I havegot an ongoing dialogue all the time, as with all the players’ © Getty Images
What kind of pressure were you under after the one-day series loss and theChampions Trophy loss? Did you feel at any stage feel, to hell with itall?
To answer the first part, I was frustrated, disappointed, even dejected atstages, all of those emotions came to the fore. But I don’t have theluxury of being able to think like that for very long. You got to facerealities and get down to what needs to be done, keep looking at thethings that we can do with what we got in the situation we’re in. Shufflethe deck chairs on the Titanic is occasionally what you have to do.There were days as captain that I had no clue but the minute you showedthat you had no clue left, you were gone. Because that sort of emotionalstate is contagious. And as coach I can’t afford to display that, I can doit behind closed doors, I can scream and shout when I’m on my own but Ican’t do that when I’m around the team. Again, within reason we had thebest possible group we could get and to throw the baby out with thebathwater was not an option. You can’t just say you got to get rid ofthese guys and bring in some new because I don’t know that we have those options. It’s a matter of trying to get the best out of the groupwe’ve got because within reason, this is the best group that we’ve got.To go to the World Cup, we’re talking about one-day cricket. We had to work outthese options, work on different aspects of our game, individuals andcollectively. Those of you that have been around may have noticed how hardsome of the guys have worked in certain areas and not least of all, thesupport staff and coaching staff. Ian Frazer and Greg King especially haveput in some seriously long hours, to be available for the guys, to dowhatever’s needed to be done and I would like to think that even in a fewmonths time, we will look back at this period and say this was the bestthing that happened to us. That in this period, we were forced to addressthings that we would probably need to address anyway and we wereforced to address that at this point now, with enough time left to make adifference. Maybe this could be the secret ingredient that does make adifference when we get to a World Cup and we are in a tight position, atight game – the fact that the guys have been in some tough periods,individually and collectively and have had to delve into the depths oftheir emotions and reserves might stand in good stead when we come tosay a semi-final match or if it’s a close game.Which day was the most disappointing one? You looked very upset when you came for the press conference at Centurion.
That was another issue involved .. very little to do with the game. Nothing to do with the media manager. I have no problems going to with certain players with a strong message because I know they can take it and be able to do with it. I know there are some who can’t takeit. So I have to get the message in a slightly different way You’re a forceful personality. Do you think some players have been unableto come to you with their problems because they find you intimidating?
I am sure that happens. That’s why you have different persons and thecoaching and support staff within the group, players, and not only seniors, tocollect feedback and sometime carry messages. Sometimes I am the wrongperson, the worst person to carry the message to the player, not becauseit’s me but that’s true with any coach. Everyone has differentpersonalities. Some people relate to me better while I relate better withothers. That’s the way it is. You rely on different methods and techniquesto get the message across.There are some players, I won’t mention names. I have no problems going to with certain players with a strong message because I know they can take it and be able to do with it. I know there are some who can’t take it. So I have to get the message in a slightly different way. Maybe through another person. That is one of the reasons why I insisted on having IanFrazer with me from the start because he’s a very different personalitythan me. We believe in the same philosophies and I know he’s not going totake mixed messages into the group, and you get conflicting messagesgoing into the group and Ian is not as intimidating to some people as Ican be. And for that reason, he has been a very important part of gettingthe messages through to the group.Greg King is another one, John Gloster, Ramki. [Ramesh] Mane is a very important part of our support staff because he is the one that spends most of the time with them. And he is with them often in their down moments. They come to see him when they are down, mentally and emotionally down. He is massaging their minds as much as he is massaging their bodies. And he is a very important part of our support staff becausehe does carry messages through, not in the sense of a secret agent, but heis able to carry the message in a much softer and meaningful way than Ican. Because he can talk to them in their own language for a start. He canunderstand their emotions much better than someone else, particularly anoutsider, can do. So, coaching is not about one person and one personalityand it can never be. And if it was, if one person was expected to do itall, it would fail.
‘There’s always going to be somediffidence in coming up and opening up to the coach and the captain’ © Getty Images
Do you think Rahul has the same problem?
Whether we like it or not we (captain and coach) are perceived to be apart of the selection process. And so there’s always going to be somediffidence in coming up and opening up to the coach and the captain. Andthat’s why a strong leadership group is absolutely critical. Because theygot to have an avenue somewhere. To be able to come to the captain orcoach. Forget the names attached to it, you got to have an avenue to gettheir voice heard or get their message across or find out what’s going on.And that’s again where the small groups we have is very important. Itgives each player a chance to speak up without the captain there, orwithout the coach there. They have their own meetings as well and it’simportant that they do so because if somebody is struggling to be heard orto get a message through, it’s going to affect the way they play. And that’swhy you can’t just have one person. There’s got to be a group of people.And the leadership within the team group is absolutely critical to thelong-term success and the ongoing success of a team. You guys understandIndian culture much better than I do. It’s all about the elders andseniors and people in responsibility who have to be listened to, no matter what.I don’t claim to own all the wisdom about cricket. I have been wrong, notoften, but I have been wrong. But the players need a voice, they need anavenue, they need to be heard, they need to be understood. And one person can’t always be guaranteed to do that.Who are there in this senior group?
Rahul, Sachin, Laxman, Sehwag, Sourav, Harbhajan. In little ways, there areleaderships within their own groups. There are two or three players whomay relate to each other better than they might relate to another two orthree players. Within each one of those cells, they are leaders. They arethe ones who carry messages to us. And they don’t always come directlyeither. They can come through Mane, they can come through Ramki, they cancome through Frazer. They can come through one of the other players.It’s not a single-lane highway, this communication thing.