No better coach to develop young players than Graham Ford

by Rex Clementine

Cricket’s headquarters seems to be slowly shifting from Maitland Place to Pedris Road and those who matter like the Sports Minister seems to have given the thumbs up for the move. The press too is not making a hue and cry like they did when the headquarters shifted to Perera Gardens in Battaramulla from Maitland Place ten years ago. Pedris Road is good news. Cricket’s intellectuals often gather there to discuss sport’s burning issues and these days they are busy interviewing the gents who have applied for the post of Head Coach of the national cricket team.

There has been some indication that the men who matter expected Graham Ford to apply for the post. But then, when you have proven credentials, you don’t have to apply for a post. Positions come after you when your track record is good. Look at Sagala Ratnayake. When Tilak Marapana, a man with an impeccable track record resigned as Minister of Law and Order, Ranil appointed Sagala for the post although there were many other capable men in his ranks like General Sarath Fonseka. The rest as they say is history. The same thing could be said of Cabraal, but let’s stick to cricket and Ford here.

More than a decade ago, SLC was interested in hiring Steve Rixon as the Head Coach. So the board Secretary called up the former Australian wicketkeeper and asked him to come along for an interview. The Secretary got an earful as Rixon told him, ‘Interviews are a waste of time. You either want me or don’t want me. Then, if I am no good, you fire me.” SLC never offered the job to Rixon as they feared that he was too blunt.

Ford is mild. Too mild at times you wonder. He has had two stints with SLC and on both occasions got bad deals. But never did he run his employer down in public leave alone going to courts. The sport is a million buck business now and nobody takes sacking lying down.

Technically, Ford was never sacked. But those gents who ran cricket knew very well how to make someone’s life difficult without sacking him. Ford is someone who would not suffer fools gladly.

He had come down to Colombo for his second innings having made a big sacrifice. He had a solid contract with English county Surrey, whose association he ended early to return to Sri Lanka. He was moving about his business smartly as Sri Lanka humbled Australia 3-0 in a Test series in 2016. But soon trouble was brewing as Ford’s wings were clipped and he was never comfortable with what was going on. But he had mentored some solid young players during his second innings. Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Lakshan Sandakan and Vishwa Fernando just to name a few.

Mentoring young players was Ford’s forte. He was the understudy for Bob Woolmer for an extensive period of time and succeeded Woolmer as South Africa’s Head Coach in 1999 and brought the best out of many young players such as Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Makaya Ntini, and so on. Sri Lanka missed out on a golden opportunity.

It doesn’t matter that Ford has not applied. Those who are calling the shots in the sport can approach him as he has just quit a job coaching Ireland. Someone with a proven track record and someone who loves Sri Lanka, you don’t get a better coach than Graham Ford. That’s why Angelo Mathews wanted him as Coach for the Colombo Stars franchise in LPL. Unfortunately, Ford was at that point ‘serving a cooling-off period after his Irish stint.