Bat and ball / Andrew Hughes / 13 October 2008 /

The late Bob Woolmer pioneered them, Shane Warne didn't much care for them and Duncan Fletcher was one of the most high-profile examples of one but what is the role of Team Coach in cricket really all about, asks Andrew Hughes.

The news that Duncan Fletcher is to take up a consultancy role with Hampshire has been greeted with surprise in some quarters of the media. For all his success with both Glamorgan and England, he was never able to win over many journalists and inevitably, there will be plenty of hacks waiting eagerly for him to fail in his new role.

But though it was less newsworthy, the more significant of Hampshire's announcements last week was the appointment of Giles White to the role of Team Manager. It is not a new position; indeed, Paul Terry filled the role last season. Given the previous captain's dislike of coaches, Hampshire might have felt that Team Manager was the more diplomatic title for a position that at most other clubs goes by the name of Head Coach.

Yet in many ways the title of Team Manager is also a more appropriate one, reflecting the natural culmination of a modern trend that has transformed the way that county cricket clubs operate. Twenty years ago, there were no Team Managers, Head Coaches or Directors of Cricket. The cricket business of the club was run by the cricket committee, a body usually comprising former amateur players and club notables. Captains were grudgingly allowed a seat on the committee but they knew their place. And coaches were even less exalted. Invariably ex-players of modest ability, they worked mostly with the second XI whilst captains were in charge of net practice, first team coaching and dozens of other organisational duties.

But things began to change in the nineties. At the forefront was the late Bob Woolmer, the template of the modern coach. A great player himself, his enthusiasm and willingness to embrace new ideas and technology led to a sea change in the way counties regarded coaching. He joined Warwickshire in 1991 and the success they enjoyed persuaded other counties of the value of employing top class coaches. Duncan Fletcher at Glamorgan and Tom Moody at Worcestershire were two of the early coaches to follow in Woolmer's footsteps.

And these new coaches were not prepared merely to offer occasional suggestions at net sessions. Their role gradually expanded until they were in many respects the most powerful men at the club. These days every county has a figure in the Bob Woolmer or Duncan Fletcher mould, a position broadly similar to that of a football manager. They take overall control of the coaching and, in consultation with the captain, decide on tactics, deal with disciplinary issues, selection and give press interviews. For captains this is an undoubted improvement. It relieves them of the burden of some time consuming administrative and coaching functions and means they are not quite so isolated, either within the club or in front of the media.

Of course, there are risks in moving to a football style model. It is important that the captain is not overshadowed. Head Coaches have to be particularly careful not to appear to usurp the captain's authority on the pitch, especially if the captain is a new or inexperienced one. Duncan Fletcher liked to convey the impression that he wasn't running the show when he was England coach, but no-one was entirely convinced. And the danger of concentrating so much power in the hands of one man is that if it goes wrong, it can damage the whole club. Warwickshire's experience with the domineering Mark Greatbach was not a happy episode in the history of the club.

But in many ways this latest development simply represents the latest staging post on English cricket's long march away from amateurism. Just as the off the field activities of a county are these days run in a business like manner, it no longer makes sense for the cricket side to be run by a committee made up of elderly retired players or influential local figures. Shane Warne may not like it but the role of the Head Coach is almost certainly here to stay.

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