Kiwi Wright on India shortlist

English county Kent have agreed to India's request to interview John Wright for their vacant coach's position.

The former New Zealand opener, whose contract as coach with Kent is coming to an end, has been short-listed for the job alongside another foreigner, ex-Australia Test captain Greg Chappell.

"John's contract is up so the Indian cricket board have approached the county to discuss the Indian job with him," said Kent's cricket administration manager Simon Willis.

"The county has given its full backing and at the moment John has got to speak to the Indian board. Until the outcome of that, our own coaching position is unclear."

Wright was suggested to the Board of Control for Cricket in India by Bobby Simpson after the former Australia captain and coach had turned down the job himself.

Simpson's admiration for Wright was clear in an article he wrote last month for Indian magazine The Sportstar.

"He (Wright) is a passionate, caring but tough operator, who has a great knowledge... He was not blessed with the natural skills of a Tendulkar or Ganguly and thus had to learn the basics to succeed.

"He did it with great tenacity, passion and a huge desire to succeed," wrote Simpson.

In 82 Tests Wright, 46, who played county cricket in England for Derbyshire, scored 5,334 runs at 37.82. Wright will meet with the ICB this weekend about the possibility of succeeding Kapil Dev.

"Only Greg Chappell and John Wright will meet us," said board of control for cricket in India secretary Jaywant Lele. Board president AC Muthiah and former board president Raj Singh Dungarpur, now chairman of the National Cricket Academy, will conduct the interviews.

Lele added: "I think we do need the services of a foreign coach because there are lots of things we can learn. "If we look at some of the foreign teams like Australia and South Africa they seem to work hard on planning strategies.

"In the past we have tried many Indian coaches like Madan Lal, Kapil Dev, Sandeep Patil and Anshuman Gaekwad and we thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to look for a foreign coach.

"The very thinking is to improve the standard of the Indian team. We have consulted the present members of the Indian team and their views on the subject are positive."

Former captain and all-rounder Kapil Dev resigned in September less than halfway through his contract after becoming embroiled in a match-fixing scandal. He said he was innocent of all allegations.

Mail Cricket Editor