Will Woolmer’s laptop work in Pakistan?
The future generation of cricket aficionados will remember Bob Woolmer as a mediocre batsman who went on to become an innovative coach. He earned fame when he coached Warwickshire at a time when Brian Lara was on a record-breaking spree. He kept Lara’s prima donna-style behaviour in check, and made him play as a team man in a team sport.
His association with South African cricket brought about rich dividends for Woolmer as well as for the South African national side. The Springboks emerged as a strong unit after remaining away from the game for a long time due to apartheid. While Woolmer didn’t make the South Africans spectacular players, nor did he teach them how to play spin bowling, he sure made them one hell of a disciplined lot. Many blame Woolmer for the ‘boring’ manner in which the South Africans play. The burly coach’s critics say he made South African players into programmed robots that can be dismantled easily, as Lara proved in 1996 World Cup in the sub-continent and Steve Waugh did the same in the 1999 World Cup in England. Those remarks are unjustified, because Woolmer has done more good to South African cricket than bad.
Woolmer’s method of coaching has earned him awe and ridicule in equal measure. I recall one incident in Kenya during the ICC Knock Out Trophy in 2000. The Indian coach at that time, Anshuman Gaekwad, came to the press box looking out for a journalist writing for a national newspaper in India. The journalist had criticised Gaekwad’s coaching methods. He had written that the former India opener learn a thing or two from Woolmer and should also purchase a laptop. “Tell Woolmer to buy me a laptop,” an irritated Gaekwad remarked before storming off.
“The laptop has stopped functioning,” Woolmer’s critics would say with a smirk whenever South Africa choked at crucial junctures, and they did choke on more than one occasion, especially against their greatest sporting rivals, the Aussies. Even Sunil Gavaskar had once taken a jibe at Woolmer. There is no denial, though, that Woolmer did revolutionise cricket coaching technique. In fact, he is credited with bringing technique into cricket, which earlier relied on individual brilliance. John Buchanan, the serious looking Australian national coach, is in the process of taking things forward which Woolmer had thought about a long time ago.
Now, Woolmer enters a territory that is not known to him at all. The rugged Pakistan can give many a Westerner sleepless nights and a foreign cricket coach of the Pakistan team will be walking the razor’s edge. Of course, Woolmer is an intelligent man but the question is, is he prepared for the ad hoc style of functioning of Pakistan cricket? Is he ready to form an alliance with a volatile bunch of players, majority of whom don’t understand or speak English? How on earth is he going to communicate with skipper Inzamam ul-Haq, whose understanding of English language is terrible? What strategy can Woolmer discuss with his skipper? It would be better if Woolmer starts to learn Urdu!
Not just the language, it’s about the culture. Coaching South Africa would have been easy for Woolmer because of the country’s similar background to the Western countries. But Pakistan is a different ball game. Wasim Akram once remarked, “God help the chap who becomes Pakistan’s coach or captain.” Richard Pybus has burnt his fingers, so has Javed Miandad. In between former players like Mudassar Nazar were sacked mid-way through the series. And there are the army generals, who control the game in that largely lawless country and expect players and coaches to kowtow before them. Imran Khan has admitted privately that he would never get involved with Pakistan cricket in an official way. The great man is too proud to bow down to whimsical people.
The psyche of a Pakistan player is beyond technology and technique. Geoffrey Boycott once took Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir aside and lectured them while the two players just nodded in agreement. Afterwards, they told Akram that they couldn’t understand a word! That’s Pakistan players for you. The best way, perhaps the only way, is to inspire them to greatness and only someone from their country can do it. There was no way Pakistan could have won the World Cup in 1992 if Imran was not their leader. What Pakistan cricket needs at the moment is a guy like Akram. His performance for his country speaks for itself, he understands the culture and the youngsters are in awe of him. Even the temperamental Shoaib Akhtar won’t mess around if Akram is in charge.
Laptops don’t function in a place that is fuelled by adrenalin.
is it true??? to me, it seems like Tapan Joshi hasn’t done his homework…what do u guys say…woolmer attributed each and every paki player to be a well-behaved and disciplined gentleman a couple of days back…so whats the truth behind the curtain??