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John Wright
Versus Greg Chappell - An analysis |
A featured blog by
Madhusudhan GR published on July
4th, 2005.
 There
have been several discussions going on in the
cricket world about who would be a better coach
for Indian cricket. But, in this article I am
going to focus on the statistics on John Wright
and Greg Chappell and get a comparison between
them. Agree that a good cricketer doesn't make a
good coach always. But, this comparison will
have an effect on the expertise that is present
between the 2 players. Arguably, Greg is the
more experienced of the two, but what do the
stats say? This is being done only from the
perspective of test matches. Let us see.
Greg played his test matches during the period
1970/71 - 1983/84 whereas John played from
1977/78 to 1992/93. Both of them have played
test matches beyond their personal age of 35 (38
for John). This would be a critical factor since
most of the Indian team batsmen (Sachin, Sourav,
Rahul, Laxman) are now around 32. So, Greg knows
what to expect from these stalwarts and how
farther he can push them to perform. As per
present indications, I am sure the Golden Four
can continue for another 2-3 years, provided
they maintain their form.
Overall, both of them have played similar number
of tests (87 for Greg Vs 82 for John) whereas
the averages and other stats show a major plus
for Greg. Greg is also one of the few players
who have scored centuries in their first and
last test match.
Deciding Factor - Greg - John
-
Runs
7110 - 5334
-
Average
54 - 38
-
Centuries
24 - 12
-
Fifties
31 - 23
-
Average against WI - 56 - 30 (Taking this as a
basis since WI was the most challenging
opposition during their terms)
-
Matches in which team won - 38 - 21
-
Matches in which team lost - 19 - 23
Greg has appeared in more test match wins for
his country as compared to John. So, obviously
he knows how to win and keep the run continued.
John has played in more drawn matches than Greg
and hence I feel we can see India appearing in
more matches having a result than draws.
Greg Chappell has not played a SINGLE TEST MATCH
IN INDIA!!! He has played 3 test matches in
Pakistan, though. Greg has played only 24 tests
outside Australia/NZ continent whereas John has
played 26 outside. So, in terms of their
hands-on experience on Sub-continent, both of
them are on a weak wicket.
Greg's difference of averages from home and away
is only 1 run (54 home and 53 away) whereas John
had a bias for home grounds (42 home and 33
away). I think Greg has to try and imbibe in his
current team the idea of having a very similar
average both home and away - in short, be
consistent wherever you play so that the results
will come even outside the sub-continent. If he
can achieve this, that will be the greatest feat
of his coaching career.
As captain, Greg has averaged 3 more than
occasions where he was not. John, in this
regard, used to average 13 runs more!!! But
inspite of this, Sourav's figures as a captain
are not good!!!
Greg has appeared in only 2 test matches when
his team was asked to follow-on, whereas the
number is 8 for John. This is one area where
Greg has to ensure that the team doesn't get to
this situation at all.
So, overall, looks like India are in a good
wicket with respect to the pedigree of the
coach. There will not be any doubts on the minds
of the Indian team members about the credentials
of Greg as a player. That in itself, I feel is
half the job done. In such a situation, it is
more likely that the team will benefit from each
other and not get into arguments or disputes
that were mentioned had happened during the last
few days of John's tenure.
Its all upto Greg and the team to take off on
what John has achieved. ALL THE BEST INDIA!!!
*All averages are rounded off
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