August 15, 2006: It’s the season of controversial books. Of course, Jaswant Singh’s book with its mole revelations is the biggest. It made the maximum impact even though the author was subjected to a lot of discomfiture.

John Wright’s book created some ripples, mainly because the media, both print and TV, is hungry for anything that is remotely juicy. And, anything remotely connected to cricket is remotely juicy. From what has appeared in the media so far, Wright made two ‘controversial’ observations in is book. One of them is that he didn’t agree with the selection panel having representatives from each zone. He said that talented players like V.V.S. Laxman and Mohammed Kaif suffered because of this because they were one bad performance away from being shown the door.

There are two things to be noted here. One, this was far from an original criticism. This point has been made so many times by so many people. He was only stating the obvious. But as a foreigner and a person from outside the system, his observation nevertheless carries some weight. As for Laxman and especially Kaif, his argument doesn’t seem to carry too much weight. Kaif is still in the team despite many failures and some successes and Laxman has also been receiving Test recalls even though he has suffered on occasions.

The other ‘revelation’ in the book is more in the nature of opinion. It was time Sourav Ganguly stepped down, he opined. He also had some nice words to say about Ganguly’s attitude, etc. but said he believed it was time for change.

This actually only proves right Greg Chappell who in a controversial interview had said that Sourav couldn’t make him do his bidding just like he did with John Wright.

In actuality, Wright’s book is like his career as coach: Non-confrontationist and well-meaning. To his credit, he was much better than the likes of Madan Lal, whom he replaced as the Indian coach, and brought in a more professional approach and a sound training regimen. He stayed away from the different lobbies that were at work in the BCCI and was friendly with the players. He rarely gave away much to the press and was always diplomatic.

He may have opened up a bit after a few pints of lager to a few journalists about his frustrations but made it very clear that these were not intended for the press ink. The journalists also honoured the gentleman’s agreement.

So, Madan Lal’s comment that the guy made handsome money as coach and now wants to make some more from the book is really uncharitable. He did a good job without wanting to ruin anybody’s career and was contend with playing second fiddle whether on the ground to the captain or the selectors in meetings. Even in his playing days, he was remembered for providing solid patient starts and not for spectacular or destructive innings as an opener. As a coach also, he provided a sound platform for Greg Chappell to play a more aggressive innings.