MUMBAI 20-Jan-2011 160
During his playing days Michael Bevan was known as the crisis man. With his cool as cucumber attitude he dug Australia out of many burrows in one day international cricket. With a batting average of 53.58 in the shorter format of the game he was the fulcrum of Steve Waugh’s invincible Australians extended aura. He completed jobs half done and was aptly tagged as the finisher. Today he finds himself in another challenging environment, albeit a different set up. Having given his consent in principle to be the coach of Orissa Ranji Trophy team for the 2011-2012 season it will be a harsh reality check when he actually gets going with his assignment. If a scale would ever be drawn to measure the contrasting quality standards of world cricket then Orissa Cricket and Cricket Australia would form the two ends of the same axis. He will soon come across the reason for Australia’s long successful regime at the top and that is exactly where his expertise skills will have to come into play.
The last time Orissa went beyond the league stages of Ranji Trophy was in 2001-2002 (Conceding first innings lead to Baroda in the semifinals). The state of Orissa cricket has wandered between various scales of mediocrity ever since. The team’s sole objective to avoid relegation to the plate league hasbeen attained with moderate success. Blame games by various stakeholders have only worsened the situation without contributing in any form of development. The only visible result has been more and more head
rolls and further closed-door approach. In a desperate attempt to revive the fortunes of Orissa cricket the association has called upon the services of Michael Bevan. The conditions are pretty familiar for the Aussie southpaw who has been the solution to innumerable panic button occasions during his playing days.
The expectations will be huge and the coach has to deliver results right from the word go but to expect him to emulate an Australian structure overnight and produce miracles would set a base for an idealistic world, a guaranteed unreality. The fact that the initial contract is just for a season raises a few eyebrows regarding the vision of the decision. If Bevan has to do wonders then the first thing he needs is time.
If Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) is of the belief that their responsibility ends with Bevan being roped in then its time to come out of the slumber. In fact this is just the beginning of a journey where delivery has to be mutual. The kind of professional Bevan is he was forthright in stating that he will be accountable to OCA for the team’s Ranji Trophy performance and the overall development of Orissa cricket. However for that to happen he has to be allowed to do so.
Orissa cricket has been a victim of club and city lobby for a long time now. For formula Bevan to click a conscious effort has to be made to tinker the existing structure and it needs to be monitored that cricketing affairs and non-cricketing issues do not collide with each other. Cricket needs to be the sole purpose of existence and the vision has to be clearly defined. The objective has to be nothing less than winning the Ranji Trophy title, various age group competitions and producing quality international cricketers. It is important for everyone involved to be on the same page without any conflict of interest. For that the administrators have to be true to themselves and present the correct picture to Bevan instead of painting a sympathetic image in front of him.
To restore sanity, the coach has to witness the ground realities of every cricketing district of the state instead of being restricted only to the urban. He should be given a free hand to take his decisions and make his moves which should be aptly trusted and backed by the management. The association has to strive towards creating state of art infrastructure across the state. The selectors should buy into the overall vision and create a pipeline of talent based on quality alone. Once Bevan is given a set of players, he should have the sole authority over them and should be able to work around them in order to create a great dressing room atmosphere filled with camaraderie. It is important that individual success and team’s achievement are equally celebrated and revered.
In the past Maharashtra had signed a foreign coach and Orissa had hired in Balwinder Singh Sandhu and later Venkatpathy Raju to do some magic but they were shown the door as they could not fit into the ‘system’ (no official report has been published regarding this). It is anybody’s guess to pick at what lies beneath the surface. Having been appointed as the coach of Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, Michael Bevan might be under no pressure for his Orissa assignment instead this might work as a feeler for his IPL role where higher commercials are at stake. Therefore the onus lies on OCA to seal the fate of this relationship. It cannot afford to flounder on a superb base it has attempted to create because slowly but steadily the levels of accountability in domestic cricket is on the rise.
The coach in Michael Bevan has to be given the dignity he deserves and OCA has to be responsible for its action. The objective should be written in bold letters and with that the results will start coming in sooner rather than later. Rajasthan, the current Ranji Trophy champions have made it clear that the foundation should be based on the philosophy of clear vision and right intent. Orissa can draw inspiration from them and start on a fresh journey because at the end of the day the taste of victory is sweeter than any other bliss.
All the best Michael Bevan.
