My Kingdom for a Coach

Graham Ford is India’s new coach – well, not really. He has turned down the job for ‘personal reasons’. As many columnists have pointed out (including Mukul Kesavan and Ian Chappell), the BCCI were very egoistical (for lack of a better word or rather because there is no better word) in their selection process for the coach. Of course, one could expect nothing less from an organisation that utilise an equally cumbersome and political process to select the cricket team itself. But cricket selection is the topic for another rant blog!

The BCCI in all their glory probably felt that the lure of several zeros before a decimal point would be all that is required to entice their chosen candidate to the coaching role. Alas, that was not to be. It seems Graham Ford put his personal life before his career and of course, money – a train of thought that would probably be lost on the BCCI.

Several comments have emerged as to why he turned down the job. The speculation is rife from his tentativeness to be in the subcontinent to the apparent shock at the appalling state of affairs within the BCCI. Of course, the other speculation is that he simply wanted a free trip to India. Is it so hard to believe that his personal circumstances may simply have changed? Or that after further contemplation, he simply didn’t feel it was the right opportunity for him at the moment? Could it be that his reason’s were oh so simple and obvious?

On thing is for certain, I wouldn’t want the Jamaican police investigating his reasons for turning down the job!