Marsh appointed consultant for domestic cricket

Ashish Magotra

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has appointed Geoff Marsh as consultant to the National Cricket Academy and the domestic cricket circuit. The details of the deal will be finalised when former BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur visits Australia later this year.

Announcing the appointment, Dungarpur said: "It took me just 15 minutes of talking to him to realise that I was in the presence of an extraordinary cricket mind. He was unbelievable, miles ahead of anybody. He has fantastic vision about the format of the game and the domestic structure."

Dungarpur also said he had told Muthiah that a man of Geoff's calibre should not be allowed to slip away.

"Muthiah immediately gave me the go-ahead to have talks with him for the position of consultant. Though he will be based in Australia, he will come here as required. We want him to revamp our cricket from the grass-roots level, " said Dungarpur.

Marsh will be looking at a major overhaul of the domestic circuit, right from the grass roots level, which includes the under-14, under-15 and under-17 teams as well. He will also be looking towards restructuring the schedule of the tournaments played in the domestic circuit.

BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele informed that Marsh will not have anything to do with the senior team.

He also mentioned that Marsh had been very keen all along for the job and seeing his enthusiasm the board decided to utilise his services for the domestic circuit.

Asked how much the board would be paying Marsh, and how much time he would actually spend in India, Lele said: "Those matters still have to be finalised."

Marsh, while gunning for the coach's position, had said he would not be able to spare the time the board wanted him to. Thus, it remains to be seen how the former Australia opening batsman and coach will function in his new role.

Mail Cricket Editor