Woolmer unsure of future (2 June 1999)
Bob Woolmer, South Africa's coach, held a cricket audience of about 2,000 - among them many expert coaches - enthralled as he delivered a lecture entitled Patterns For Success at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham yesterday
02-Jun-1999
2 June 1999
Woolmer unsure of future
Charles Randall
Bob Woolmer, South Africa's coach, held a cricket audience of about
2,000 - among them many expert coaches - enthralled as he delivered a
lecture entitled Patterns For Success at the National Exhibition
Centre in Birmingham yesterday.
Next Monday an England and Wales Cricket Board working party, with a
desperate need to establish any pattern for success, will be
discussing Woolmer's name as they draw up a short list for the vacant
England coach's job.
Woolmer's presentation at the Rover World Cricket Coaches Conference,
which included how to detect and deal with decay in a professional
team, illustrated his ability to analyse and draw ideas together.
If England want his efficiency, Lord MacLaurin's ECB panel will
probably have to create a super-coach position at Test level for the
Englishman, releasing him from close year-round involvement, or
contract him as a consultant.
The only query over Woolmer would be his enthusiasm. "I need to take
a break," he said yesterday, "and as for 'do I want to do it again?'
I don't know the answer to that question."
Woolmer said that Warwickshire had asked for "first refusal" on his
services and, while money was not the driving force, he needed to
know what the England terms would be. "While it's a prime job in
English cricket, it's a tough one, especially as I've been in the
South Africa job for five years," he added.
One extract from his analysis of decay detection seemed to have an
echo in county cricket. "The team get over-confident," he told
delegates. "They discuss money, they discuss sponsored cars, they ask
where are their team shirts, they're not keen on practising.
"Then the downward spiral. People fail, they are at a very low ebb
and they aren't really working very hard. There's something wrong
with the system. You realise it's rotten to the core."
Source :: The Electronic Telegraph