When whole of India was going bonkers over the selection of a new national coach in May this year, Maharashtra Cricket Association had quietly appointed Australian Darren Holder their coach for this season. Criticised for speaking his mind on the standard of the domestic cricket in India, damned for not letting his players speak to the media during a match, and tried for not having played first class cricket himself, Holder has ended the season on a high with a win over Mumbai (second only in Ranji history). Here, he speaks to Sidharth Monga after the Ranji match on Friday.
How do you rate standards of domestic cricket in India?
Poor
What could be the reason?
The administrators have to acknowledge that we are in 21st century now. They must realise that the standards that prevailed 25 years ago are not acceptable in 2006. Just like players seek improvement, the associations and administrators should also improve.
How do you explain the slow over-rates?
Balls are changed a lot. They are not up to the mark. Every time they hit the boards, they go out of shape. People are generally lazy.
Do the match referees pull you up for the slow rate?
Match referees don’t have the powers really. They should be given the powers so that they ensure proper over rates. And the umpires too. For example, if I were an umpire, I wouldn’t allow a batsman to call for an arm guard in the second over of the innings.
They always contend you never played first class cricket.
Coaching cricket and playing cricket are two totally different things. Skills required are vastly different. They are few coaches of Olympic gold-medallists who won golds themselves. Most of the greates coaches haven’t played the elite sport themselves. This is what we have to realise too, that coaching of cricketers is a profession and is completely different from playing.
How was your first season?
Results wise, we beat the best three teams in the competition. We are definitely not in the bottom three. Every time we got a fair cricket wicket, we did well. This has been a season of continued improvement and a good foundation for the next year. Personnel wise, we are very fortunate. Every state team will be wary of us next season. The way we beat Mumbai has been a symbol of our style of play.
You involved U-19 and U-22 squads at your camps.
I knew we would need young players in our campaign. I also needed to see all the players. The U-19 ahs won the All-India competition (Cooch Behar) and three of those players have been pretty important in the senior side too.
You also cut your touring party to 13.
In domestic cricket, touring with 15 players is a luxury. I take only 13 players, all 13 of whom contribute. Carrying 15 players is a waste of time, energy, and money.
