To be a coach

There was an interesting comment from Charles Collins, in his piece on 606 yesterday that defended John Morris, regarding the role of the coach in first class cricket.

He cited Chris Bassano's comment that at first-class level, players who have worked out their games don't really need all that much in the way of coaching. That follows on from the comments of John Wright, who was asked, when he was coach of the Indian national team, what his role comprised.

"Making sure that I get all the practice balls back," replied Wright in his normal wry style. Both have a point and I would guess, never having played the first-class game, that there's an element of truth in the comments. I wouldn't have thought Wright, good coach and admirable player that he was, could teach Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid how to bat. The role may well have been more of a watching brief, perhaps noting slight flaws that were creeping in, maybe putting an arm around their shoulders in the event of a poor trot.

A good coach can make a difference, as evidenced by Andy Flower with England, but luck comes into it a lot too. I reckon I could have captained or coached the West Indies of the 1970s and 1980s, while the Australians under Steve Waugh needed little work with the great talent that they had. John Buchanan's record with Australia might suggest that he was outstanding, though his time at Middlesex was less impressive. Les Stillman did well at Derbyshire, as he did at Victoria, but there were some good players around at the time, while Mark Robinson has a fine record at Sussex at a time when they've had the likes of Goodwin, Adams, Kirtley and Mushtaq. It helps, you know…

None of us know how the coaching is apportioned at Derbyshire. We have a batting coach in Andy Brown and a bowling coach in Steffan Jones. We also have an Academy coach in Karl Krikken, so I'm not sure what that leaves John Morris to do in terms of coaching, for which he is sometimes criticised. Maybe his role is ensuring that players know what is expected of them on match days. Earlier this season, the Derby Telegraph carried an article in which Morris confirmed that Chris Rogers would have the final call on the make up of the team that took the field, something I'm sure is still the case. I'm equally sure there have been plenty of times when the skipper hasn't had many decisions to make this season, especially in the seam bowling line up.

Denis Smith, Derbyshire's coach of many years from the 1950s to 1970s, was notoriously blunt and hard to please with his charges and explained this by saying it was a hard game and there was no one to hold their hand out in the middle. The bottom line is that you can show people how they should play, but the stroke selection in the middle comes down to the individual.

When I first moved to Scotland I played in the then Scottish Counties league and could barely make a run initially. The professional, a man who had played a handful of county games down south, was an excellent coach and suggested that I play more on the front foot than on the back and that I play straighter to counteract the movement. I worked on it with him and the runs started to come, yet my limitations meant that he didn't turn me into Bradman. The following year an Australian Sheffield Shield star came and scored a hundred almost every time he batted, yet couldn't explain to the rest of us what we needed to do to emulate him. Truth be told, he hadn't a clue what position your feet should be in for an on drive, he just did it instinctively. When he played the shot he got four or six, whereas the rest of us generally holed out at mid on. Any coach is only as good as his players and can only take them so far

Perhaps Morris' greater role is in persuading people to come to the club. While a 606 correspondent last night highlighted a few names (Telo, Clarke, Hayward and Hinds) that had been less successful than might have been hoped, there were mitigating circumstances for all of them. As another pointed out, Hinds was far from outstanding but did a job, while Clarke's failure was a disappointment to everyone. I still recall 606 nearly in meltdown with the positive comments on his signing, yet it didn't work as he couldn't settle in the north. Telo came with a big reputation yet couldn't settle in this country, while Hayward was a gamble after we'd lost Langeveldt. It didn't come off, yet his record suggested it should have done and Morris unfortunately got a player on the slide.

On the plus side, Morris has brought in Madsen. Rogers, Peterson, Park, Hughes, Groenewald, Durston and Langeveldt. They are far ahead, in ability, than those they replaced but we had a long way to go to catch up. Maybe, just maybe, they're in some cases not quite good enough. Perhaps some of them need more time to reach the required consistency, as irrespective of their age some of the above have little first class experience and need to adjust, mentally as much as physically, to the first class game.

As I've said before, Morris will generally be outbid when going for big name players, so we have to accept that ours will be from a lower level in some cases. I would totally support a move for a new coach if there was someone that we could afford who could come and make a difference. I've heard Graeme Welch named as an option, but Welch is under pressure at Edgbaston for the poor results with Ashley Giles. Dougie Brown is also there and another suggestion I have heard is that Welch and Brown come to Derby as a partnership. This carries two issues for me, one being that the track record is hardly inspiring. While Welch is much loved and rightly so, that would only buy him so much time. The other issue is how we afford two people…

No doubt about it, next year is massive for John Morris. His contract ends and he has to theoretically rebuild his team in the winter with limited resources and hope that the new players gel together in time to keep the perenially disenchanted off his back. If Keith Loring can find a sponsor who will put up £200K a year for team improvements he would have no problem. As it is, he has a very difficult job.

As would anyone else.